Environmentally friendly elements include an Energy Star Certified HERS index of 12, cutting-edge, variable speed HVAC system, intelligent LED lighting control system, and photovoltaic arrays.

Example of a trendy sunroom design in Ahmedabad

Flavin Architects collaborated with Ben Wood Studio Shanghai on the design of this modern house overlooking a blueberry farm. A contemporary design that looks at home in a traditional New England landscape, this house features many environmentally sustainable features including passive solar heat and native landscaping. The house is clad in stucco and natural wood in clear and stained finishes and also features a double height dining room with a double-sided fireplace. Photo by: Nat Rea Photography

The UL Listed Vienna Ethanol Fireplace offers the safety standards set forth by UL with functionality and aesthetic appeal to boot. Its outer and inner frame, trimmed in black, secures the one-piece stainless steel face. Smartly positioned in a black steel fire box, the ethanol burner produces lively flames behind a pane of tempered glass. The glass positioned in front of the fire adds to Vienna's safety and allows for maximum burn time by preventing additional oxygen from a breeze or other environmental variable.

Richard P. Rauso, ASLA
Design ideas for a small contemporary full sun front yard water fountain landscape.

A beautiful Cap Cod home featuring National Hardwood's French Galerie's engineered Oak hardwood flooring in Deep Smoked Oak in their great room, Formal dining room and kitchen. Room X Room Photography

The Mazama house is located in the Methow Valley of Washington State, a secluded mountain valley on the eastern edge of the North Cascades, about 200 miles northeast of Seattle. The house has been carefully placed in a copse of trees at the easterly end of a large meadow. Two major building volumes indicate the house organization. A grounded 2-story bedroom wing anchors a raised living pavilion that is lifted off the ground by a series of exposed steel columns. Seen from the access road, the large meadow in front of the house continues right under the main living space, making the living pavilion into a kind of bridge structure spanning over the meadow grass, with the house touching the ground lightly on six steel columns. The raised floor level provides enhanced views as well as keeping the main living level well above the 3-4 feet of winter snow accumulation that is typical for the upper Methow Valley. To further emphasize the idea of lightness, the exposed wood structure of the living pavilion roof changes pitch along its length, so the roof warps upward at each end. The interior exposed wood beams appear like an unfolding fan as the roof pitch changes. The main interior bearing columns are steel with a tapered “V”-shape, recalling the lightness of a dancer. The house reflects the continuing FINNE investigation into the idea of crafted modernism, with cast bronze inserts at the front door, variegated laser-cut steel railing panels, a curvilinear cast-glass kitchen counter, waterjet-cut aluminum light fixtures, and many custom furniture pieces. The house interior has been designed to be completely integral with the exterior. The living pavilion contains more than twelve pieces of custom furniture and lighting, creating a totality of the designed environment that recalls the idea of Gesamtkunstverk, as seen in the work of Josef Hoffman and the Viennese Secessionist movement in the early 20th century. The house has been designed from the start as a sustainable structure, with 40% higher insulation values than required by code, radiant concrete slab heating, efficient natural ventilation, large amounts of natural lighting, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, and locally sourced materials. Windows have high-performance LowE insulated glazing and are equipped with concealed shades. A radiant hydronic heat system with exposed concrete floors allows lower operating temperatures and higher occupant comfort levels. The concrete slabs conserve heat and provide great warmth and comfort for the feet. Deep roof overhangs, built-in shades and high operating clerestory windows are used to reduce heat gain in summer months. During the winter, the lower sun angle is able to penetrate into living spaces and passively warm the exposed concrete floor. Low VOC paints and stains have been used throughout the house. The high level of craft evident in the house reflects another key principle of sustainable design: build it well and make it last for many years! Photo by Benjamin Benschneider

Material expression and exterior finishes were carefully selected to reduce the apparent size of the house, last through many years, and add warmth and human scale to the home. The unique siding system is made up of different widths and depths of western red cedar, complementing the vision of the structure's wings which are balanced, not symmetrical. The exterior materials include a burn brick base, powder-coated steel, cedar, acid-washed concrete and Corten steel planters.

Example of a mid-sized transitional freestanding desk dark wood floor and brown floor study room design in New York with beige walls and no fireplace

Bio wood is a completely chemical free wood flooring made from European larch and crafted in Italy. This wood species is known for its beautiful elongated and dimensional grain. Bio wood is vapor treated, the planks are placed in sealed basins that emit a steam composed of water and other natural elements creating a natural sealer on the finished surface. This vapor treatment and drying creates an extremely durable, non-permeable finish. These planks have a hand-sawn surface, and due to the nature of the finishing system each plank is subtly different. This collection is a variable width floor and contains three different plank widths. *These planks are completely chemical free and certified for use in bio buildings.

Bio wood is a completely chemical free wood flooring made from European larch and crafted in Italy. This wood species is known for its beautiful elongated and dimensional grain. Bio wood is vapor treated, the planks are placed in sealed basins that emit a steam composed of water and other natural elements creating a natural sealer on the finished surface. This vapor treatment and drying creates an extremely durable, non-permeable finish. These planks have a hand-sawn surface, and due to the nature of the finishing system each plank is subtly different. This collection is a variable width floor and contains three different plank widths. *These planks are completely chemical free and certified for use in bio buildings.

Bio wood is a completely chemical free wood flooring made from European larch and crafted in Italy. This wood species is known for its beautiful elongated and dimensional grain. Bio wood is vapor treated, the planks are placed in sealed basins that emit a steam composed of water and other natural elements creating a natural sealer on the finished surface. This vapor treatment and drying creates an extremely durable, non-permeable finish. These planks have a hand-sawn surface, and due to the nature of the finishing system each plank is subtly different. This collection is a variable width floor and contains three different plank widths. *These planks are completely chemical free and certified for use in bio buildings.

Bio wood is a completely chemical free wood flooring made from European larch and crafted in Italy. This wood species is known for its beautiful elongated and dimensional grain. Bio wood is vapor treated, the planks are placed in sealed basins that emit a steam composed of water and other natural elements creating a natural sealer on the finished surface. This vapor treatment and drying creates an extremely durable, non-permeable finish. These planks have a hand-sawn surface, and due to the nature of the finishing system each plank is subtly different. This collection is a variable width floor and contains three different plank widths. *These planks are completely chemical free and certified for use in bio buildings.

Bio wood is a completely chemical free wood flooring made from European larch and crafted in Italy. This wood species is known for its beautiful elongated and dimensional grain. Bio wood is vapor treated, the planks are placed in sealed basins that emit a steam composed of water and other natural elements creating a natural sealer on the finished surface. This vapor treatment and drying creates an extremely durable, non-permeable finish. These planks have a hand-sawn surface, and due to the nature of the finishing system each plank is subtly different. This collection is a variable width floor and contains three different plank widths. *These planks are completely chemical free and certified for use in bio buildings.

Bio wood is a completely chemical free wood flooring made from European larch and crafted in Italy. This wood species is known for its beautiful elongated and dimensional grain. Bio wood is vapor treated, the planks are placed in sealed basins that emit a steam composed of water and other natural elements creating a natural sealer on the finished surface. This vapor treatment and drying creates an extremely durable, non-permeable finish. These planks have a hand-sawn surface, and due to the nature of the finishing system each plank is subtly different. This collection is a variable width floor and contains three different plank widths. *These planks are completely chemical free and certified for use in bio buildings.

Bio wood is a completely chemical free wood flooring made from European larch and crafted in Italy. This wood species is known for its beautiful elongated and dimensional grain. Bio wood is vapor treated, the planks are placed in sealed basins that emit a steam composed of water and other natural elements creating a natural sealer on the finished surface. This vapor treatment and drying creates an extremely durable, non-permeable finish. These planks have a hand-sawn surface, and due to the nature of the finishing system each plank is subtly different. This collection is a variable width floor and contains three different plank widths. *These planks are completely chemical free and certified for use in bio buildings.

Small elegant gray one-story mixed siding gable roof photo in Charleston

DESIGN + INNOVATION: Award of Excellence PROJECT: The Prairie House CLIENT: Name Withheld ARCHITECTURE FIRM: Fisher ARCHitecture PHOTOGRAPHER: Fisher ARCHitecture DESCRIPTION: Designed to relate directly to its location, the Prairie House recontextualizes Midwestern building motifs from the 1950s and ’60s, simultaneously old fashioned and tough yet ambiguously futuristic. Interior spaces are nestled in the ground, with earth sheltered construction protecting from high winds and variable temperatures that characterize this part of the country; rooms have a direct relationship with one of three partially enclosed courtyards that are carved from the solid mass of earth. JURY COMMENTS: The interesting aspect of this project is the self-imposed exploration of contextualizing a Midwest site where there are only roads and cornfields. The iconographic images remind us of Venturi’s Learning from Las Vegas, from the large-scale billboard and letters to the symbolic buffalo on the renderings. The design gestures all seem responsive to its site both in terms of its cultural heritage and to its environmental realities.