A young couple with three small children purchased this full floor loft in Tribeca in need of a gut renovation. The existing apartment was plagued with awkward spaces, limited natural light and an outdated décor. It was also lacking the required third child’s bedroom desperately needed for their newly expanded family. StudioLAB aimed for a fluid open-plan layout in the larger public spaces while creating smaller, tighter quarters in the rear private spaces to satisfy the family’s programmatic wishes. 3 small children’s bedrooms were carved out of the rear lower level connected by a communal playroom and a shared kid’s bathroom. Upstairs, the master bedroom and master bathroom float above the kid’s rooms on a mezzanine accessed by a newly built staircase. Ample new storage was built underneath the staircase as an extension of the open kitchen and dining areas. A custom pull out drawer containing the food and water bowls was installed for the family’s two dogs to be hidden away out of site when not in use. All wall surfaces, existing and new, were limited to a bright but warm white finish to create a seamless integration in the ceiling and wall structures allowing the spatial progression of the space and sculptural quality of the midcentury modern furniture pieces and colorful original artwork, painted by the wife’s brother, to enhance the space. The existing tin ceiling was left in the living room to maximize ceiling heights and remain a reminder of the historical details of the original construction. A new central AC system was added with an exposed cylindrical duct running along the long living room wall. A small office nook was built next to the elevator tucked away to be out of site.

Example of a french country home office design in Dallas

Photo credit: Scott McDonald @ Hedrich Blessing 7RR-Ecohome: The design objective was to build a house for a couple recently married who both had kids from previous marriages. How to bridge two families together? The design looks forward in terms of how people live today. The home is an experiment in transparency and solid form; removing borders and edges from outside to inside the house, and to really depict “flowing and endless space”. The house floor plan is derived by pushing and pulling the house’s form to maximize the backyard and minimize the public front yard while welcoming the sun in key rooms by rotating the house 45-degrees to true north. The angular form of the house is a result of the family’s program, the zoning rules, the lot’s attributes, and the sun’s path. We wanted to construct a house that is smart and efficient in terms of construction and energy, both in terms of the building and the user. We could tell a story of how the house is built in terms of the constructability, structure and enclosure, with a nod to Japanese wood construction in the method in which the siding is installed and the exposed interior beams are placed in the double height space. We engineered the house to be smart which not only looks modern but acts modern; every aspect of user control is simplified to a digital touch button, whether lights, shades, blinds, HVAC, communication, audio, video, or security. We developed a planning module based on a 6-foot square room size and a 6-foot wide connector called an interstitial space for hallways, bathrooms, stairs and mechanical, which keeps the rooms pure and uncluttered. The house is 6,200 SF of livable space, plus garage and basement gallery for a total of 9,200 SF. A large formal foyer celebrates the entry and opens up to the living, dining, kitchen and family rooms all focused on the rear garden. The east side of the second floor is the Master wing and a center bridge connects it to the kid’s wing on the west. Second floor terraces and sunscreens provide views and shade in this suburban setting. The playful mathematical grid of the house in the x, y and z axis also extends into the layout of the trees and hard-scapes, all centered on a suburban one-acre lot. Many green attributes were designed into the home; Ipe wood sunscreens and window shades block out unwanted solar gain in summer, but allow winter sun in. Patio door and operable windows provide ample opportunity for natural ventilation throughout the open floor plan. Minimal windows on east and west sides to reduce heat loss in winter and unwanted gains in summer. Open floor plan and large window expanse reduces lighting demands and maximizes available daylight. Skylights provide natural light to the basement rooms. Durable, low-maintenance exterior materials include stone, ipe wood siding and decking, and concrete roof pavers. Design is based on a 2' planning grid to minimize construction waste. Basement foundation walls and slab are highly insulated. FSC-certified walnut wood flooring was used. Light colored concrete roof pavers to reduce cooling loads by as much as 15%. 2x6 framing allows for more insulation and energy savings. Super efficient windows have low-E argon gas filled units, and thermally insulated aluminum frames. Permeable brick and stone pavers reduce the site’s storm-water runoff. Countertops use recycled composite materials. Energy-Star rated furnaces and smart thermostats are located throughout the house to minimize duct runs and avoid energy loss. Energy-Star rated boiler that heats up both radiant floors and domestic hot water. Low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures are used to conserve water usage. No VOC finish options and direct venting fireplaces maintain a high interior air quality. Smart home system controls lighting, HVAC, and shades to better manage energy use. Plumbing runs through interior walls reducing possibilities of heat loss and freezing problems. A large food pantry was placed next to kitchen to reduce trips to the grocery store. Home office reduces need for automobile transit and associated CO2 footprint. Plan allows for aging in place, with guest suite than can become the master suite, with no need to move as family members mature.

The comfortable elegance of this French-Country inspired home belies the challenges faced during its conception. The beautiful, wooded site was steeply sloped requiring study of the location, grading, approach, yard and views from and to the rolling Pennsylvania countryside. The client desired an old world look and feel, requiring a sensitive approach to the extensive program. Large, modern spaces could not add bulk to the interior or exterior. Furthermore, it was critical to balance voluminous spaces designed for entertainment with more intimate settings for daily living while maintaining harmonic flow throughout. The result home is wide, approached by a winding drive terminating at a prominent facade embracing the motor court. Stone walls feather grade to the front façade, beginning the masonry theme dressing the structure. A second theme of true Pennsylvania timber-framing is also introduced on the exterior and is subsequently revealed in the formal Great and Dining rooms. Timber-framing adds drama, scales down volume, and adds the warmth of natural hand-wrought materials. The Great Room is literal and figurative center of this master down home, separating casual living areas from the elaborate master suite. The lower level accommodates casual entertaining and an office suite with compelling views. The rear yard, cut from the hillside, is a composition of natural and architectural elements with timber framed porches and terraces accessed from nearly every interior space flowing to a hillside of boulders and waterfalls. The result is a naturally set, livable, truly harmonious, new home radiating old world elegance. This home is powered by a geothermal heating and cooling system and state of the art electronic controls and monitoring systems.

This homage to prairie style architecture located at The Rim Golf Club in Payson, Arizona was designed for owner/builder/landscaper Tom Beck. This home appears literally fastened to the site by way of both careful design as well as a lichen-loving organic material palatte. Forged from a weathering steel roof (aka Cor-Ten), hand-formed cedar beams, laser cut steel fasteners, and a rugged stacked stone veneer base, this home is the ideal northern Arizona getaway. Expansive covered terraces offer views of the Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish designed golf course, the largest stand of Ponderosa Pines in the US, as well as the majestic Mogollon Rim and Stewart Mountains, making this an ideal place to beat the heat of the Valley of the Sun. Designing a personal dwelling for a builder is always an honor for us. Thanks, Tom, for the opportunity to share your vision. Project Details | Northern Exposure, The Rim – Payson, AZ Architect: C.P. Drewett, AIA, NCARB, Drewett Works, Scottsdale, AZ Builder: Thomas Beck, LTD, Scottsdale, AZ Photographer: Dino Tonn, Scottsdale, AZ

Living room - large traditional formal medium tone wood floor living room idea in New York with blue walls, a brick fireplace, no tv and a standard fireplace

The cedar tub relates to the cedar deck, benches and beam screens. This view is from the door of the ADU looking out into the space. The greenhouse like material we used on the fence acts as a changing art piece where the shadows and lights interact with it. I designed it to be modern Shoji like screens.

This project, an extensive remodel and addition to an existing modern residence high above Silicon Valley, was inspired by dominant images and textures from the site: boulders, bark, and leaves. We created a two-story addition clad in traditional Japanese Shou Sugi Ban burnt wood siding that anchors home and site. Natural textures also prevail in the cosmetic remodeling of all the living spaces. The new volume adjacent to an expanded kitchen contains a family room and staircase to an upper guest suite. The original home was a joint venture between Min | Day as Design Architect and Burks Toma Architects as Architect of Record and was substantially completed in 1999. In 2005, Min | Day added the swimming pool and related outdoor spaces. Schwartz and Architecture (SaA) began work on the addition and substantial remodel of the interior in 2009, completed in 2015. Photo by Matthew Millman

Vance Fox
Example of a large mountain style brown two-story wood house exterior design in Sacramento with a shed roof

The program consists of a detached Guest House with full Kitchen, Living and Dining amenities, Carport and Office Building with attached Main house and Master Bedroom wing. The arrangement of buildings was dictated by the numerous majestic oaks and organized as a procession of spaces leading from the Entry arbor up to the front door. Large covered terraces and arbors were used to extend the interior living spaces out onto the site. All the buildings are clad in Texas limestone with accent bands of Leuders limestone to mimic the local limestone cliffs in the area. Steel was used on the arbors and fences and left to rust. Vertical grain Douglas fir was used on the interior while flagstone and stained concrete floors were used throughout. The flagstone floors extend from the exterior entry arbors into the interior of the Main Living space and out onto the Main house terraces.

Originally a nearly three-story tall 1920’s European-styled home was turned into a modern villa for work and home. A series of low concrete retaining wall planters and steps gradually takes you up to the second level entry, grounding or anchoring the house into the site, as does a new wrap around veranda and trellis. Large eave overhangs on the upper roof were designed to give the home presence and were accented with a Mid-century orange color. The new master bedroom addition white box creates a better sense of entry and opens to the wrap around veranda at the opposite side. Inside the owners live on the lower floor and work on the upper floor with the garage basement for storage, archives and a ceramics studio. New windows and open spaces were created for the graphic designer owners; displaying their mid-century modern furnishings collection. A lot of effort went into attempting to lower the house visually by bringing the ground plane higher with the concrete retaining wall planters, steps, wrap around veranda and trellis, and the prominent roof with exaggerated overhangs. That the eaves were painted orange is a cool reflection of the owner’s Dutch heritage. Budget was a driver for the project and it was determined that the footprint of the home should have minimal extensions and that the new windows remain in the same relative locations as the old ones. Wall removal was utilized versus moving and building new walls where possible. Photo Credit: John Sutton Photography.

The European sleekness was a constant theme through the home, including in the main bathroom. The layout included LED mirrors, and a pull-out hamper and pull-out trash receptacle.

corner lots present unique opportunities. This one has a side yard protected by a stucco landscape wall. Layers of space can be seen from tons of rooms.

A young family with a wooded, triangular lot in Ipswich, Massachusetts wanted to take on a highly creative, organic, and unrushed process in designing their new home. The parents of three boys had contemporary ideas for living, including phasing the construction of different structures over time as the kids grew so they could maximize the options for use on their land. They hoped to build a net zero energy home that would be cozy on the very coldest days of winter, using cost-efficient methods of home building. The house needed to be sited to minimize impact on the land and trees, and it was critical to respect a conservation easement on the south border of the lot. Finally, the design would be contemporary in form and feel, but it would also need to fit into a classic New England context, both in terms of materials used and durability. We were asked to honor the notions of “surprise and delight,” and that inspired everything we designed for the family. The highly unique home consists of a three-story form, composed mostly of bedrooms and baths on the top two floors and a cross axis of shared living spaces on the first level. This axis extends out to an oversized covered porch, open to the south and west. The porch connects to a two-story garage with flex space above, used as a guest house, play room, and yoga studio depending on the day. A floor-to-ceiling ribbon of glass wraps the south and west walls of the lower level, bringing in an abundance of natural light and linking the entire open plan to the yard beyond. The master suite takes up the entire top floor, and includes an outdoor deck with a shower. The middle floor has extra height to accommodate a variety of multi-level play scenarios in the kids’ rooms. Many of the materials used in this house are made from recycled or environmentally friendly content, or they come from local sources. The high performance home has triple glazed windows and all materials, adhesives, and sealants are low toxicity and safe for growing kids. Photographer credit: Irvin Serrano

This unique city-home is designed with a center entry, flanked by formal living and dining rooms on either side. An expansive gourmet kitchen / great room spans the rear of the main floor, opening onto a terraced outdoor space comprised of more than 700SF. The home also boasts an open, four-story staircase flooded with natural, southern light, as well as a lower level family room, four bedrooms (including two en-suite) on the second floor, and an additional two bedrooms and study on the third floor. A spacious, 500SF roof deck is accessible from the top of the staircase, providing additional outdoor space for play and entertainment. Due to the location and shape of the site, there is a 2-car, heated garage under the house, providing direct entry from the garage into the lower level mudroom. Two additional off-street parking spots are also provided in the covered driveway leading to the garage. Designed with family living in mind, the home has also been designed for entertaining and to embrace life's creature comforts. Pre-wired with HD Video, Audio and comprehensive low-voltage services, the home is able to accommodate and distribute any low voltage services requested by the homeowner. This home was pre-sold during construction. Steve Hall, Hedrich Blessing

DM Photography
Example of a transitional bedroom design in Austin

Large transitional master dark wood floor and brown floor bedroom photo with beige walls and no fireplace

SDH Studio - Architecture and Design Location: Bal Harbour, Florida, USA Set in a magnificent corner lot in Bal Harbour Village the site is filled with natural light. This contemporary home is conceived as an open floor plan that integrates indoor with outdoor maximizing family living and entertaining.

Spacecrafting, Inc.
Example of a transitional black floor powder room design in New York with an undermount sink, multicolored walls, furniture-like cabinets, white cabinets and gray countertops