Language Options - Photos & Ideas

www.LeichtCA.com MODO | DESIGN OPTIONS A functional vision for the backsplash. The house of LEICHT has designed the MODO system, focusing on the exciting contrast of metal and natural wood. It will enhance every modern kitchen with it's clear lines and puristic form language. It provides easy access to the required cooking utensils and eases the straight lined kitchen architecture at the same time. A horizontal square railing of stainless steel colored aluminium screwed directly onto the niche back wall, provides the basic support element. Several function elements in lacquered solid oak are suspended here in various positions. The choice of instruments: shelves, paper roll holders, hook rail, utensil holder and a knife block. Separate function items can also be used as a shelf for smaller items. All lighting developed and designed by LEICHT demonstrates energy efficiency class A+ UL listed and is thus highly efficient. premium LED light with 4100 K (Kelvin) luminous color.

Contemporary Vienna Pool house

KohlMark Architects and Builders

Modernism and traditionalism are just steps away from each other at this Vienna Virginia pool house. The main house, built by a national homebuilder, draws upon tradition, but the pool house, speaks the language of contemporary minimalism. It presents clean lines and a soaring roofline overhanging tall glass doors and clerestory windows. Great design, careful attention to detail, first-rate materials and impeccable craftsmanship have yielded a spectacular solution for outdoor entertaining. With a fireplace and every conceivable convenience under roof, this pool house might just be the perfect escape for inclement weather as well. Photography by Greg Hadley http://www.greghadleyphotography.com

August 2015 Catalog

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Example of a transitional living room design in Los Angeles with gray walls

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Wellesley Green Home

ZeroEnergy Design

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

MODO | DESIGN OPTIONS

LeichtCA / Architectural Kitchens Inc

Clarkson Street Living Room + Fireplace Renovation

TVL Creative Ltd.

This wonderful client returned to us for her living room remodel with the goal of transforming the space into a comfortable, stylish area for lounging and entertaining. The focal point of the room, the fireplace, became an ode to the client's father. At the time of the project’s start, he had recently passed away. Our client’s father had always believed that the space needed a fireplace, and this was a special implementation that we could make to honor that. Aside from creating an inviting and warm fireplace corner, the other goals of the project included a strategic working of aesthetic and form. As a first move, we removed a long wall at the entry of the space. This immediately created a more open and welcoming entry off the front door. Subtle division was still established here by integrating a new sofa and sofa back table. Another goal was to carry the luxe transitional feeling that we had previously developed in her upstairs bathroom renovation a few years prior down into the other public spaces of the home. On the fireplace, chenille white stacked stone was installed and paired with a custom wood mantle. Throughout the space, layers of texture, pattern and finishes were utilized to create a dynamic and elegant completion. We combined metal, wood, marble, limestone, chunky fabric knits, soft chenille, mother of pearl and rattan for a complex aesthetic language that is diverse and beautiful. As part of our final touches, we worked to brighten and lighten the space. We updated window coverings and installed new can lighting in the dining room and kitchen areas. The hardwood floors were refinished and paint was updated throughout. We also completed the space with seating appropriate for entertaining in a smaller space. For example, accent chairs in this room also function as dining chairs for the head of the table. It feels so fitting to have something that brings warmth into a space tied to our client's memory of their father and we are so honored to have had a part in creating something in honor of him.

Wolf 24" Convection Microwave Oven Stainless Steel | MC24

Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center

Wolf 24" Convection Microwave Oven Stainless Steel | MC24 Available at Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center | uakc.com Sleek, black glass design: An all-glass front - from the door to the touch control panel to the large, convenient open button - gives Wolf standard and convection microwaves a look that coordinates seamlessly other Wolf products. Flexible design and installation options: All 24” microwaves can be freestanding or installed into surrounding cabinetry with accessory trim kits that coordinate with other Wolf built-in ovens and warming drawers. Gourmet mode: The intelligent Gourmet mode delivers deliciousness by detecting moisture and humidity levels and automatically adjusting cook time and power level for several preset recipes. Quick-start controls for popular items: Soften, melt, reheat, defrost and, of course, prepare popcorn using a broad range of quick-start options. Keep Warm mode: The Keep Warm mode turns your microwave into a warming drawer that keeps cooked food at a ready-to-serve temperature for up to 90 minutes. 900 watts of power: Wolf convection microwaves deliver 900 watts of power and a roomy 1.5-cu.-ft. of cooking capacity. Technical Features: Dimensions: 24 3/8"W x 14 7/8"H x 19"D 110/120 V AC 60 Hz, 15 amp dedicated circuit Overall Width with 30" Trim: 29 7/8" Overall Width with 36" Trim: 35 5/8" Multi-language—English, French and Spanish Sensor cooking Menu label and recipe guide Safety door latches—oven will not operate unless the door is securely closed Removable ceramic turntable and turntable support

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Blue Bottle cafes

Lincoln Lighthill Architect

Pictured: Blue Bottle Berkeley, CA How can architecture reinforce a client's mission and ethos? Lincoln Lighthill Architect's design for this cafe near the U.C. Berkeley campus utilizes a modest material palette in innovative ways to create a subtle, elegantly textured environment that amplifies and engages with the experience of craft coffee making. At the front counter, individual service modules, each just a few feet wide and only two feet deep, create an intimate setting for interaction between barista and customer. Lighting, shelving, customer tables and acoustical baffles overhead all mimic the dash-dot language of the modules and lend a sense of ordered yet playful movement to the otherwise unremarkable concrete shell. Throughout the cafe, standard pine ACX plywood is elevated and expressed through stacking and exposing of the raw edge. At the service modules, sheets of 3/4” plywood are CNC-milled into “C” shapes and stacked to create solid blocks of edge-grain plywood, without seams or miters, their interiors digitally "carved out" for storage and equipment. The soffit above is faced with the same stacked material, concealing lighting and hvac equipment while highlighting the service area below. Face pine plywood cabinets, stainless steel plate and white solid-surface counters round out a restrained material palette. Custom furnishings provide a variety of seating and standing options for customers.

Why Every Chicago Remodel Ends Up Debating the Same Three Slabs

safe ZOnea

Ask a kitchen designer in Chicago which countertop question comes up most and you will hear the same answer: white or off-white quartz, and which shade. Homeowners walk into showrooms with a photo saved on their phone, usually a bright, veined slab from a magazine spread, and leave an hour later realizing there are a dozen versions of that same look. The confusion is not about taste. It is about the fact that "white quartz" covers a huge range of patterns, undertones, and price points, and nobody explains the differences before the sale. Older bungalows and newer builds alike are getting stripped of their dated laminate and butcher block in favor of quartz, and the reasons are practical rather than trendy. Quartz does not need sealing, resists the kind of staining that granite can suffer over decades, and holds up to the freeze-thaw humidity swings that Chicago basements and kitchens go through every year. Once a homeowner commits to quartz, though, the real decision starts: which white, and does the pattern justify the difference in cost. This piece walks through three specific slabs that keep showing up in Chicago renovation projects, why designers reach for them in different rooms, and what actually separates a flat white surface from one with real depth. None of this requires a design background to follow. It is mostly about paying attention to how a slab behaves under kitchen lighting, how busy the vending gets, and how it photographs versus how it looks in person. Why White Quartz Took Over Chicago Kitchens Ten years ago, granite dominated Chicago kitchen remodels almost by default. It was durable, it looked expensive, and every fabricator in the metro area carried a wide range of colors. Quartz has since taken over that position, and the shift happened faster than most contractors expected. Engineered stone gave homeowners a more predictable surface, since natural granite varies slab to slab while quartz is manufactured to a consistent pattern batch after batch. The other driver is light. Chicago winters are long and gray, and a lot of kitchens, especially in older two-flats and courtyard buildings, do not get much direct sun. A dark granite countertop in a dim kitchen can make the whole room feel smaller. White and light-toned quartz reflects what little natural light comes through the windows, and it makes a galley kitchen or a north-facing space feel noticeably brighter without touching the cabinetry or the layout. There is also a resale argument that local real estate agents bring up constantly. White quartz photographs well for listings, reads as updated and low-maintenance to buyers touring in person, and does not compete visually with whatever cabinet color the next owner might prefer. It is a safer bet than a bold veined marble look or a colored quartz that might feel dated in five years. Arctic White and the Cost Question Among the flatter, more uniform whites, arctic white quartz price comes up constantly in budget conversations because the slab sits at a more approachable point than the heavily veined Italian-marble-inspired patterns. It reads as clean and bright without the busy movement that some homeowners find overwhelming in a small kitchen. Fabricators in the Chicago area tend to keep it in stock precisely because demand stays steady across both new construction and remodel projects. Part of what keeps this slab affordable relative to its heavily patterned cousins comes down to manufacturing complexity. A quartz surface with minimal veining and a consistent white base is simpler to produce at scale than one that mimics the irregular, high-contrast movement of natural Calacatta marble. That production difference shows up directly in what a homeowner pays per square foot, and it is worth asking a fabricator to walk through that pricing before assuming every white quartz costs the same. Homeowners planning a full kitchen, including an island, backsplash, and perimeter counters, often use a flatter white like this specifically because it lets other elements carry the visual interest. A patterned tile backsplash or a bold cabinet color reads more clearly against a calm countertop than against one already fighting for attention with heavy veining. Designers frequently pair simpler whites with statement lighting fixtures for exactly this reason. What Makes Calacatta Patterns Different Calacatta refers to a family of marble originally quarried in Italy, known for a bright white background broken up by bold, often gold-toned veining that moves in thick, dramatic streaks rather than thin gray lines. Natural Calacatta marble is soft, porous, and expensive to maintain, which is exactly why quartz manufacturers spent years developing engineered versions that replicate the look without the upkeep headaches. The challenge with any Calacatta-style quartz is getting the veining to look organic instead of printed. Early generations of engineered stone struggled with repetitive patterns that gave away the fact the slab was manufactured rather than cut from actual marble. Modern digital printing and layering techniques have closed that gap considerably, and the better Calacatta-inspired quartz lines now vary the veining across each slab batch so two counters in the same kitchen do not look identical. Chicago designers gravitate toward Calacatta patterns for kitchens that function as the visual centerpiece of an open floor plan, which describes a large share of the gut renovations happening in neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, Roscoe Village, and the North Shore suburbs. When the kitchen island is visible from the living room and dining area, a dramatic veined surface becomes part of the home's overall design language rather than a purely functional work surface. Calacatta Arno Under Kitchen Lighting One of the more popular options in this category, calacatta arno quartz, balances a warm white base with soft gray and gold veining that avoids looking too stark under the cooler LED lighting common in newer Chicago builds. Homeowners touring showrooms sometimes make the mistake of judging a slab entirely under warm incandescent lighting, then get surprised when the same surface looks slightly different once installed under their kitchen's actual fixtures. What separates this particular pattern from flatter competitors is how the veining clusters rather than spreading evenly across the slab. That clustering mimics the way real quarried marble forms, with denser mineral deposits in some sections and cleaner stretches in others. Fabricators cutting a large island slab from a single piece will often orient the pattern intentionally so the busiest veining lands somewhere visually interesting rather than getting cut off at an edge. Because the background reads warmer than a stark white, this pattern tends to pair well with brass or matte gold hardware, a combination that has been showing up repeatedly in Chicago kitchen remodels over the past few renovation seasons. Cabinet painters report a similar trend, with more clients requesting warm white or greige cabinet colors specifically because they complement this kind of veined quartz better than a cooler, blue-toned white would. Silestone's Version of the Calacatta Look Manufacturers compete directly in this Calacatta-inspired category, and silestone eternal calacatta gold represents one brand's specific take on the pattern, distinguished by richer gold veining set against a brighter white base than some competing slabs in the same family. Silestone has built a reputation around anti-bacterial surface treatments in addition to the standard quartz durability, a detail some homeowners specifically ask about for kitchens used heavily by families with young children. The veining in this particular slab tends to run in longer, more continuous lines compared to the clustered pattern found in some other Calacatta-style options, which gives large island surfaces a sense of visual flow from one end to the other. Fabricators working with bigger islands, the kind increasingly common in open-concept Chicago remodels, often favor patterns like this because there is less need to worry about seams interrupting a busy, disconnected pattern. Price positioning for this slab tends to sit toward the upper end of the engineered quartz category, reflecting both the brand's manufacturing process and the complexity of replicating that continuous gold veining consistently across production batches. Homeowners weighing this option against other Calacatta-style quartz should ask their fabricator directly about batch availability, since premium patterns sometimes have longer lead times than standard stock colors. Living With Quartz Day to Day Beyond how a slab looks in a showroom or a listing photo, the daily experience of owning quartz countertops matters more once the renovation dust settles. Quartz resists scratching far better than laminate and holds up to the acidic spills, hot pans, and general abuse of an active kitchen without the sealing maintenance that natural stone requires every year or two. That low-maintenance reputation is a large part of why quartz overtook granite in the first place. Heat resistance is a detail that gets less attention than it should. While quartz handles moderate heat well, manufacturers generally recommend using a trivet or pad for very hot pots straight off the stove, since sudden temperature shock can occasionally cause stress marks in the resin binder that holds the engineered stone together. This is a minor precaution rather than a major limitation, but it is worth mentioning to anyone assuming quartz is entirely indestructible. Cleaning routines stay simple across almost every pattern in this category. A damp cloth and mild soap handle daily messes, and the nonporous surface means wine, coffee, and tomato-based sauces do not soak in the way they can with unsealed granite or marble. Homeowners moving from an older stone counter often mention how much less they worry about everyday spills once quartz is installed, which is a quality-of-life change that rarely makes it into the initial design conversation. Choosing Between the Three There is no single correct answer among these three slabs, and that is exactly why they keep coming up together in the same design conversations across Chicago renovation projects. A flatter white with minimal veining suits kitchens where other elements need to carry the visual interest, while a bolder Calacatta-inspired pattern makes sense when the countertop itself is meant to be the centerpiece of an open floor plan. Budget matters too, and it is worth having a direct conversation with a fabricator about where each option lands before falling in love with a specific slab in a showroom. Lighting, cabinet color, and how the kitchen connects to the rest of the home all play into which pattern will actually look right once installation is finished rather than just in a photo. Whatever direction a homeowner leans, seeing a full slab in person under actual kitchen lighting remains the single most useful step before signing off. Photos only go so far once the countertop is sitting in the room it will live in for years.

The Inclusive Garden, June 2013

Studio TOOP

design: Carrie Preston (Studio TOOP) and Jasper Helmantel (Cruydt Hoeck), 2011 location: Appeltern, NL status: built in 2012 by Appeltern Model Garden Complex photos: Jolanthe Lalkens, June 2013 Designed as assignment from both the Dutch gardening magazine Groei & Bloei and the television and radio nature program Vara's Vroege Vogels, this garden serves as a model of how homeowners can incorporate lots of plant life and wildlife into the design but without sacrificing practicality or aesthetics. The garden is deliberately contemporary in its style to emphasize that nature-rich gardens need not look a certain way - insects and birds don't care if the lines are straight or curved. At the same time the garden makes use of affordable, simple, no-nonsense materials. The 40x60 cm paving stones are one of the most common and affordable paving options in the Netherlands, available en masse for free on the Internet. Conceptually we imagined a garden completely paved with the tiles (as to many gardens are) and what would happen if took out some of these stones, used them to build benches and structure and added plants where the tiles had been. In the construction of the benches we include other materials such as bamboo sticks and insulation bricks that create habitat for insects such as solitary bees. The plant palette is based on a selection of native and host plants in combination with the 26 plants plan set up by Groei & Boei -- a list of plants aimed at making the use of more plants in gardens accessible and less intimidating. The choice for the number 26 corresponds with the number of letters in the alphabet in line with the famous Dutch garden designer Mien Ruy's comment that if we only need 26 letters to create a whole language, we should be able to combine and mix 26 plants to express far more than we think.