Despite being located in an expansive golf community, the Brown residence celebrates stunning desert views from almost every space. Its careful design makes this possible as views to neighboring houses are edited out focused instead on distant mountains. While the residence presents an unassuming, modest scale to the street, it steps down with the slope of the site allowing the spaces inside to become quite generous. Oversize pivot doors and large expanses of glass allow abundant light and air into these spaces while broad overhangs and shading devices protect them from the harsh desert sun. awards 2011 - Texas Society of Architects / AIA Design Award 2010 - AIA San Antonio Merit Award Architecture: Lake/Flato Architects Contractor: the construction zone, ltd. Photography: Bill Timmerman

Conceived as an empty-nesters paradise this house was designed as a series of pods to maximize the efficiency of the footprint and to celebrate the interrelationship of the interior and exterior spaces. Both indoor and outdoor living areas are promoted by the building’s harmonious relationship with the natural environment. The undulating form steps down the hillside to frame incredible views of the landscape and surrounding golf course from every point in the house and a combination of decks, bridges and patios encourage the residents to be outside. This line between in and out is further diffused by both the structure and the material palette’s movement across the exterior threshold, while the shading devices, trellises and large eves provide protection and privacy for year round use and enjoyment of the entire site. This residence is truly a deliberate response to both the owner’s lifestyle and their love of nature.

Conceived as an empty-nesters paradise this house was designed as a series of pods to maximize the efficiency of the footprint and to celebrate the interrelationship of the interior and exterior spaces. Both indoor and outdoor living areas are promoted by the building’s harmonious relationship with the natural environment. The undulating form steps down the hillside to frame incredible views of the landscape and surrounding golf course from every point in the house and a combination of decks, bridges and patios encourage the residents to be outside. This line between in and out is further diffused by both the structure and the material palette’s movement across the exterior threshold, while the shading devices, trellises and large eves provide protection and privacy for year round use and enjoyment of the entire site. This residence is truly a deliberate response to both the owner’s lifestyle and their love of nature.

Conceived as an empty-nesters paradise this house was designed as a series of pods to maximize the efficiency of the footprint and to celebrate the interrelationship of the interior and exterior spaces. Both indoor and outdoor living areas are promoted by the building’s harmonious relationship with the natural environment. The undulating form steps down the hillside to frame incredible views of the landscape and surrounding golf course from every point in the house and a combination of decks, bridges and patios encourage the residents to be outside. This line between in and out is further diffused by both the structure and the material palette’s movement across the exterior threshold, while the shading devices, trellises and large eves provide protection and privacy for year round use and enjoyment of the entire site. This residence is truly a deliberate response to both the owner’s lifestyle and their love of nature.

Conceived as an empty-nesters paradise this house was designed as a series of pods to maximize the efficiency of the footprint and to celebrate the interrelationship of the interior and exterior spaces. Both indoor and outdoor living areas are promoted by the building’s harmonious relationship with the natural environment. The undulating form steps down the hillside to frame incredible views of the landscape and surrounding golf course from every point in the house and a combination of decks, bridges and patios encourage the residents to be outside. This line between in and out is further diffused by both the structure and the material palette’s movement across the exterior threshold, while the shading devices, trellises and large eves provide protection and privacy for year round use and enjoyment of the entire site. This residence is truly a deliberate response to both the owner’s lifestyle and their love of nature.

Conceived as an empty-nesters paradise this house was designed as a series of pods to maximize the efficiency of the footprint and to celebrate the interrelationship of the interior and exterior spaces. Both indoor and outdoor living areas are promoted by the building’s harmonious relationship with the natural environment. The undulating form steps down the hillside to frame incredible views of the landscape and surrounding golf course from every point in the house and a combination of decks, bridges and patios encourage the residents to be outside. This line between in and out is further diffused by both the structure and the material palette’s movement across the exterior threshold, while the shading devices, trellises and large eves provide protection and privacy for year round use and enjoyment of the entire site. This residence is truly a deliberate response to both the owner’s lifestyle and their love of nature.

Despite being located in an expansive golf community, the Brown residence celebrates stunning desert views from almost every space. Its careful design makes this possible as views to neighboring houses are edited out focused instead on distant mountains. While the residence presents an unassuming, modest scale to the street, it steps down with the slope of the site allowing the spaces inside to become quite generous. Oversize pivot doors and large expanses of glass allow abundant light and air into these spaces while broad overhangs and shading devices protect them from the harsh desert sun. awards 2011 - Texas Society of Architects / AIA Design Award 2010 - AIA San Antonio Merit Award Architecture: Lake/Flato Architects Contractor: the construction zone, ltd. Photography: Bill Timmerman

Despite being located in an expansive golf community, the Brown residence celebrates stunning desert views from almost every space. Its careful design makes this possible as views to neighboring houses are edited out focused instead on distant mountains. While the residence presents an unassuming, modest scale to the street, it steps down with the slope of the site allowing the spaces inside to become quite generous. Oversize pivot doors and large expanses of glass allow abundant light and air into these spaces while broad overhangs and shading devices protect them from the harsh desert sun. awards 2011 - Texas Society of Architects / AIA Design Award 2010 - AIA San Antonio Merit Award Architecture: Lake/Flato Architects Contractor: the construction zone, ltd. Photography: Bill Timmerman

Sound Design Marks 20 Years with ELAN-Centered Showroom By RS Staff March 12,2013 Marking 20 years of success and growth in Texas as a custom installation firm, Sound Design is opening a new state-of-the-art home technology showroom in the resort community of Horseshoe Bay, TX on April 1. Sound Design showroom The new 4,500 square foot showroom puts the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System on the main stage, according to owner Chris Bean, who wants to make sure that it is the first thing clients experience when they walk into the entrance living room. “What better way to celebrate our 20th year as Texas’ premier custom installation firm than to open a beautiful new showroom with all the latest home technologies?” Bean said. “We’ve learned a lot over the years, and our experience helped us design the new showroom in a way that presents a relaxing, luxurious ambience that appeals to our local clientele. We used the best-of-the-best in every category, from the Runco 63-inch plasma TV framed and hidden by a VisionArt motorized art print to the ultra-high-end CAT MBX Sequoia speakers and of course the ELAN g! System. "We have another showroom in Lakeway, TX where we’ve been showing off ELAN g! since the system debuted in 2010. When we first got into custom home installation, multi-room audio and video systems were the biggest client request. Today, we are increasingly finding that homeowners and homebuyers are as interested in complete home control as they are in their TVs and music, if not more so. Expandable, easy to use control systems that utilize mobile devices and simplify home living are going to be major sales drivers of the future for both the CI industry and the home building industry. ELAN g! System The showroom offers a tour of top-of-the-line home electronics, starting with the entrance living room that features AV and lighting control from an ELAN TS10 10-inch in-wall touchscreen, an ELAN TS2 in-wall touchscreen and an ELAN HR2 handheld remote. The system distributes audio and video content to a system consisting of a Runco V63 63-inch plasma display, a Planar 2x3 Matrix Wall with six 46-inch panels, a Planar Mosaic wall with four 46-inch panels and four 15-inch square panels, a two-channel audio system that uses two 7-foot-tall CAT MBX Sequoia’s, and a surround system that includes an Integra DTR 50.4 receiver, Newport speakers and two Sunfire HRS-12 subwoofers. “Many of our clients are tech-savvy homeowners who have become mobile tech enthusiasts through their everyday interactions with iPhones and tablets, and they want that same instant satisfaction to apply to their household media and home functions. We’re using the ELAN g! System to show them that home control can be just as easy as using an iPhone,” Bean said. “Just a few years ago, the most common client request was for an amazing home theater to enjoy the newest DVDs or Blu-Rays. Consumer culture is now moving beyond just high-quality audio and video and our clients are demanding easy, fast, total control of everything in the home from their touch panels, smartphone or tablet. ELAN g! does it in spades, and for many clients it’s simply the best choice out there.” The most unique part of the new showroom is the 640 square foot Simulation Room. Featuring AboutGolf’s newest three-projector continuous curve screen golf simulator, a LaserShot shooting simulator with five-channel surround and 30 competitive games for two players, and a VRX iMotion triple-LCD display driving & flight simulator, this room is literally a virtual playground. Bean wanted to show that he’s an outside-the-box thinker, and that, in this resort community, there is a custom installation professional that can bring dreams to life. “The Simulation Room is a step forward for CI showroom design and for our company, and it allows us to open the imagination of our clients to show them that anything is possible. Homeowners in Horseshoe Bay are all about recreation and a luxury lifestyle so we wanted to show the unique ways people could enhance their home’s fun factor. From controlling lighting, heating and surveillance cameras on an iPhone to a hyper-realistic golf simulator that makes you feel like you’re really teeing off on the course, our Horseshoe Bay showroom is as state-of-the-art as it can be.” Sound Design also built a commercial quality home theater that uses a Display Development HD3 projector, a 184-inch Stewart Filmscreen Luxus Delux screen, A Kaleidescape M300 player connected to a Kaleidescape CinemaOne server in the lobby, a Theta Casablanca III preamp/processor, Theta Compli-blu Blu-ray player, a PrimaCinema server, and a bevy of California Audio Technology speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers.

Despite being located in an expansive golf community, the Brown residence celebrates stunning desert views from almost every space. Its careful design makes this possible as views to neighboring houses are edited out focused instead on distant mountains. While the residence presents an unassuming, modest scale to the street, it steps down with the slope of the site allowing the spaces inside to become quite generous. Oversize pivot doors and large expanses of glass allow abundant light and air into these spaces while broad overhangs and shading devices protect them from the harsh desert sun. awards 2011 - Texas Society of Architects / AIA Design Award 2010 - AIA San Antonio Merit Award Architecture: Lake/Flato Architects Contractor: the construction zone, ltd. Photography: Bill Timmerman

Conceived as an empty-nesters paradise this house was designed as a series of pods to maximize the efficiency of the footprint and to celebrate the interrelationship of the interior and exterior spaces. Both indoor and outdoor living areas are promoted by the building’s harmonious relationship with the natural environment. The undulating form steps down the hillside to frame incredible views of the landscape and surrounding golf course from every point in the house and a combination of decks, bridges and patios encourage the residents to be outside. This line between in and out is further diffused by both the structure and the material palette’s movement across the exterior threshold, while the shading devices, trellises and large eves provide protection and privacy for year round use and enjoyment of the entire site. This residence is truly a deliberate response to both the owner’s lifestyle and their love of nature.

Despite being located in an expansive golf community, the Brown residence celebrates stunning desert views from almost every space. Its careful design makes this possible as views to neighboring houses are edited out focused instead on distant mountains. While the residence presents an unassuming, modest scale to the street, it steps down with the slope of the site allowing the spaces inside to become quite generous. Oversize pivot doors and large expanses of glass allow abundant light and air into these spaces while broad overhangs and shading devices protect them from the harsh desert sun. awards 2011 - Texas Society of Architects / AIA Design Award 2010 - AIA San Antonio Merit Award Architecture: Lake/Flato Architects Contractor: the construction zone, ltd. Photography: Bill Timmerman

Inspiration for a transitional bathroom remodel in Kansas City

Allenaim Photography © 2012 Houzz
Example of an eclectic patio design in Philadelphia

Conceived as an empty-nesters paradise this house was designed as a series of pods to maximize the efficiency of the footprint and to celebrate the interrelationship of the interior and exterior spaces. Both indoor and outdoor living areas are promoted by the building’s harmonious relationship with the natural environment. The undulating form steps down the hillside to frame incredible views of the landscape and surrounding golf course from every point in the house and a combination of decks, bridges and patios encourage the residents to be outside. This line between in and out is further diffused by both the structure and the material palette’s movement across the exterior threshold, while the shading devices, trellises and large eves provide protection and privacy for year round use and enjoyment of the entire site. This residence is truly a deliberate response to both the owner’s lifestyle and their love of nature.

Despite being located in an expansive golf community, the Brown residence celebrates stunning desert views from almost every space. Its careful design makes this possible as views to neighboring houses are edited out focused instead on distant mountains. While the residence presents an unassuming, modest scale to the street, it steps down with the slope of the site allowing the spaces inside to become quite generous. Oversize pivot doors and large expanses of glass allow abundant light and air into these spaces while broad overhangs and shading devices protect them from the harsh desert sun. awards 2011 - Texas Society of Architects / AIA Design Award 2010 - AIA San Antonio Merit Award Architecture: Lake/Flato Architects Contractor: the construction zone, ltd. Photography: Bill Timmerman

Michael Lowry
Home theater - traditional home theater idea in Orlando

Conceived as an empty-nesters paradise this house was designed as a series of pods to maximize the efficiency of the footprint and to celebrate the interrelationship of the interior and exterior spaces. Both indoor and outdoor living areas are promoted by the building’s harmonious relationship with the natural environment. The undulating form steps down the hillside to frame incredible views of the landscape and surrounding golf course from every point in the house and a combination of decks, bridges and patios encourage the residents to be outside. This line between in and out is further diffused by both the structure and the material palette’s movement across the exterior threshold, while the shading devices, trellises and large eves provide protection and privacy for year round use and enjoyment of the entire site. This residence is truly a deliberate response to both the owner’s lifestyle and their love of nature.

Architect: Michelle Penn, AIA This traditional European Romantic style home was designed to be mainstream, but is also a high tech, super efficient home. It is a Net Zero home that produces as much energy as it uses in a year. The steep roof pitch allows for the perfect slope for solar panels. We also used awning shading devices on the basement windows and overhangs to block the summer sun. Also, note the rainbarrels. Photograph credit: Dave Thiel