Function meets form in the Delta House, which incorporates innovative building solutions for our challenging rural Canadian climate. Perhaps more akin to aeronautics than architecture, biomimetic processes drove the problem-solving approach while seeking multiple functions for each component. A typical Canadian home grows up and out of the site, exposing more of the facade to the elements. Instead of building up, the focus here was to make better use of the lower level. A section of the house was dug out on the south side, making room for three main glazed boxes. The spaces and bedrooms of a typical second floor were transferred to the more protected basement, thus lowering the volume of conditioned air within the dwelling. To minimize energy losses through the glazing, ATA centralized the windows on the south side of the building, while minimizing the glazing on other facades. The centralized windows became the “three sisters” allowing the winter sun into the main floor and lower level of the house. The aerodynamic delta shape of the building was tested in a wind tunnel and was designed to minimize energy loss due to contact with the turbulent winter wind. The sisters are tilted 10 degrees towards the sun, leveraging the properties of glass as a reflector, when the sun is at a high angle of incidence in the summer. The house also contains an innovative thermal mass battery in the basement slab and a connected radiative masonry fireplace. Excess heat, gathered at the top of the tent-like roof is directed down and reheated through the chimney before being drawn into the basement slab for storage. Openings in the floor areas ensure the energy is equally distributed throughout the dwelling. Read an article in the Globe and Mail about ATA’s Delta project here.

Function meets form in the Delta House, which incorporates innovative building solutions for our challenging rural Canadian climate. Perhaps more akin to aeronautics than architecture, biomimetic processes drove the problem-solving approach while seeking multiple functions for each component. A typical Canadian home grows up and out of the site, exposing more of the facade to the elements. Instead of building up, the focus here was to make better use of the lower level. A section of the house was dug out on the south side, making room for three main glazed boxes. The spaces and bedrooms of a typical second floor were transferred to the more protected basement, thus lowering the volume of conditioned air within the dwelling. To minimize energy losses through the glazing, ATA centralized the windows on the south side of the building, while minimizing the glazing on other facades. The centralized windows became the “three sisters” allowing the winter sun into the main floor and lower level of the house. The aerodynamic delta shape of the building was tested in a wind tunnel and was designed to minimize energy loss due to contact with the turbulent winter wind. The sisters are tilted 10 degrees towards the sun, leveraging the properties of glass as a reflector, when the sun is at a high angle of incidence in the summer. The house also contains an innovative thermal mass battery in the basement slab and a connected radiative masonry fireplace. Excess heat, gathered at the top of the tent-like roof is directed down and reheated through the chimney before being drawn into the basement slab for storage. Openings in the floor areas ensure the energy is equally distributed throughout the dwelling. Read an article in the Globe and Mail about ATA’s Delta project here.

Feature in: Luxe Magazine Miami & South Florida Luxury Magazine If visitors to Robyn and Allan Webb’s one-bedroom Miami apartment expect the typical all-white Miami aesthetic, they’ll be pleasantly surprised upon stepping inside. There, bold theatrical colors, like a black textured wallcovering and bright teal sofa, mix with funky patterns, such as a black-and-white striped chair, to create a space that exudes charm. In fact, it’s the wife’s style that initially inspired the design for the home on the 20th floor of a Brickell Key high-rise. “As soon as I saw her with a green leather jacket draped across her shoulders, I knew we would be doing something chic that was nothing like the typical all- white modern Miami aesthetic,” says designer Maite Granda of Robyn’s ensemble the first time they met. The Webbs, who often vacation in Paris, also had a clear vision for their new Miami digs: They wanted it to exude their own modern interpretation of French decor. “We wanted a home that was luxurious and beautiful,” says Robyn, noting they were downsizing from a four-story residence in Alexandria, Virginia. “But it also had to be functional.” To read more visit: https: https://maitegranda.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LX_MIA18_HOM_MaiteGranda_10.pdf Rolando Diaz

Function meets form in the Delta House, which incorporates innovative building solutions for our challenging rural Canadian climate. Perhaps more akin to aeronautics than architecture, biomimetic processes drove the problem-solving approach while seeking multiple functions for each component. A typical Canadian home grows up and out of the site, exposing more of the facade to the elements. Instead of building up, the focus here was to make better use of the lower level. A section of the house was dug out on the south side, making room for three main glazed boxes. The spaces and bedrooms of a typical second floor were transferred to the more protected basement, thus lowering the volume of conditioned air within the dwelling. To minimize energy losses through the glazing, ATA centralized the windows on the south side of the building, while minimizing the glazing on other facades. The centralized windows became the “three sisters” allowing the winter sun into the main floor and lower level of the house. The aerodynamic delta shape of the building was tested in a wind tunnel and was designed to minimize energy loss due to contact with the turbulent winter wind. The sisters are tilted 10 degrees towards the sun, leveraging the properties of glass as a reflector, when the sun is at a high angle of incidence in the summer. The house also contains an innovative thermal mass battery in the basement slab and a connected radiative masonry fireplace. Excess heat, gathered at the top of the tent-like roof is directed down and reheated through the chimney before being drawn into the basement slab for storage. Openings in the floor areas ensure the energy is equally distributed throughout the dwelling. Read an article in the Globe and Mail about ATA’s Delta project here.

Sometimes all you need is a little organization, and this reading nook gets its calm and cozy vibe from the farmhouse-style bookcase. It effortlessly holds and display decorative items and books. Then add baskets to organize items that aren’t as decorative. It’s the perfect complement to an accent chair, instead of a typical end table. Complete the room with some potted plants and a rug to define a space for reading and daydreaming. Like this look? Grab it by clicking here.

Located just outside of Boston, this home was built from the ground up to serve a bustling working family. The home contains a work/office space for client visits and an asymmetrical floor plan that distinguishes itself from typical New England vernacular. The entry sequence creates an enfilade to the main living spaces of the house. Smaller programmatic spaces such as the indoor pool, office, mud room, and staircase are kept to the perimeter of the main living areas on the lower floor. Upstairs, the stair ends at a reading nook and crafts area for children. Project featured in The Boston Globe. Completed in 2020. Photography by Sabrina Cole Quinn.

Located just outside of Boston, this home was built from the ground up to serve a bustling working family. The home contains a work/office space for client visits and an asymmetrical floor plan that distinguishes itself from typical New England vernacular. The entry sequence creates an enfilade to the main living spaces of the house. Smaller programmatic spaces such as the indoor pool, office, mud room, and staircase are kept to the perimeter of the main living areas on the lower floor. Upstairs, the stair ends at a reading nook and crafts area for children. Project featured in The Boston Globe. Completed in 2020. Photography by Sabrina Cole Quinn.

An apartment for a young couple just starting out: Great design was achieved on a small budget. A color scheme of blues, greens, and neutrals was used to turn a typical apartment into a warm and cozy home.

Located just outside of Boston, this home was built from the ground up to serve a bustling working family. The home contains a work/office space for client visits and an asymmetrical floor plan that distinguishes itself from typical New England vernacular. The entry sequence creates an enfilade to the main living spaces of the house. Smaller programmatic spaces such as the indoor pool, office, mud room, and staircase are kept to the perimeter of the main living areas on the lower floor. Upstairs, the stair ends at a reading nook and crafts area for children. Project featured in The Boston Globe. Completed in 2020. Photography by Sabrina Cole Quinn.

Feature in: Luxe Magazine Miami & South Florida Luxury Magazine If visitors to Robyn and Allan Webb’s one-bedroom Miami apartment expect the typical all-white Miami aesthetic, they’ll be pleasantly surprised upon stepping inside. There, bold theatrical colors, like a black textured wallcovering and bright teal sofa, mix with funky patterns, such as a black-and-white striped chair, to create a space that exudes charm. In fact, it’s the wife’s style that initially inspired the design for the home on the 20th floor of a Brickell Key high-rise. “As soon as I saw her with a green leather jacket draped across her shoulders, I knew we would be doing something chic that was nothing like the typical all- white modern Miami aesthetic,” says designer Maite Granda of Robyn’s ensemble the first time they met. The Webbs, who often vacation in Paris, also had a clear vision for their new Miami digs: They wanted it to exude their own modern interpretation of French decor. “We wanted a home that was luxurious and beautiful,” says Robyn, noting they were downsizing from a four-story residence in Alexandria, Virginia. “But it also had to be functional.” To read more visit: https: https://maitegranda.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LX_MIA18_HOM_MaiteGranda_10.pdf Rolando Diaz

Located just outside of Boston, this home was built from the ground up to serve a bustling working family. The home contains a work/office space for client visits and an asymmetrical floor plan that distinguishes itself from typical New England vernacular. The entry sequence creates an enfilade to the main living spaces of the house. Smaller programmatic spaces such as the indoor pool, office, mud room, and staircase are kept to the perimeter of the main living areas on the lower floor. Upstairs, the stair ends at a reading nook and crafts area for children. Project featured in The Boston Globe. Completed in 2020. Photography by Sabrina Cole Quinn.

This project was for a young professional who had no tolerance for clutter but boy does she love to read. From the first site visit, I had my heart set on the books she had. She loves colors and is not scared of them. Client from heaven… She rents a typical railroad house in Brooklyn and it came with its own challenges as far as laying out the space. I created three zones for her and right in the middle sits her throne to read her gazillion books. Photography by Daniel Wang. Couch, library and dining / working… thats how I divided the space. The playful pendant lights add some much needed color in the tall ceiling and artless walls. The design classic WOMB chair in a beautiful Chartreuse Felt with chrome legs is the main feature in the room.

I recently visited a client living in the market town of Woodstock in Oxfordshire to rejuvenate a fantastic multi-coloured Slate floor that had been hidden under several years’ worth of dirt in their kitchen. Slate is a typically hard-wearing tile used for flooring high traffic areas of houses and public buildings but does need sealing to bring out its best features and in this case the sealer had long since worn off and dirt had become ingrained in the stone. My first task in the cleaning process was to mix a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which is a strong alkaline cleaner safe to use on Tile and Stone, and NanoTech HBU (Heavy Build-up Remover), which is a particularly powerful product that uses nano-sized particles to tackle muck in areas of the stone where typical cleaners simply can’t reach. I spread this solution across the floor and left it to seep into the stone, to get underneath and lift out the ingrained dirt. After allowing the solution adequate time to dwell, I scrubbed the floor with a carbon brush to gradually reveal the fantastic natural colours of the Slate hidden beneath. Following this, I rinsed the entire floor several times with clean water, before soaking up the resulting soiled residue with a wet vacuum. The next part of the cleaning process entailed paying particular attention to the grout lines. I used Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to scrub the grout lines and also to treat a small amount of efflorescence. The resulting residue was promptly extracted with the wet vacuum and I finished by giving the whole floor a rinse with Tile Doctor pH Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is a day to day tile cleaning product which is recommended for stone floors, many supermarket tile cleaning products are only suitable for ceramic tiles due to their acidic formula and can damage a floor over years of use so you should always read the label. I then left the floor to dry completely overnight. On day two, the Slate tiled floor was dry and ready to seal. The floor had to be completely dry, as any excess moisture has the potential to the damage the performance of the sealer. Since my client had specifically requested a matte finish, I opted to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that provides durable surface protection from within while also enhancing all of the natural mineral shades. My client was very pleased with the results, particularly as they hadn’t realised they had such a great looking floor in their house when they had first purchased it! Barry Woodward Oxfordshire Tile Doctor

Located just outside of Boston, this home was built from the ground up to serve a bustling working family. The home contains a work/office space for client visits and an asymmetrical floor plan that distinguishes itself from typical New England vernacular. The entry sequence creates an enfilade to the main living spaces of the house. Smaller programmatic spaces such as the indoor pool, office, mud room, and staircase are kept to the perimeter of the main living areas on the lower floor. Upstairs, the stair ends at a reading nook and crafts area for children. Project featured in The Boston Globe. Completed in 2020. Photography by Sabrina Cole Quinn.

This project was for a young professional who had no tolerance for clutter but boy does she love to read. From the first site visit, I had my heart set on the books she had. She loves colors and is not scared of them. Client from heaven… She rents a typical railroad house in Brooklyn and it came with its own challenges as far as laying out the space. I created three zones for her and right in the middle sits her throne to read her gazillion books. Photography by Daniel Wang. The design classic WOMB chair in a beautiful Chartreuse Felt with chrome legs is the main feature in the room againt backdrop of this amazing bookshelf styled by color.

Our client didn't want a typical formal living room, so we created a warm and inviting Reading Room. We love this light, bright, and colorful room. photo by Aurora Fain

Located just outside of Boston, this home was built from the ground up to serve a bustling working family. The home contains a work/office space for client visits and an asymmetrical floor plan that distinguishes itself from typical New England vernacular. The entry sequence creates an enfilade to the main living spaces of the house. Smaller programmatic spaces such as the indoor pool, office, mud room, and staircase are kept to the perimeter of the main living areas on the lower floor. Upstairs, the stair ends at a reading nook and crafts area for children. Project featured in The Boston Globe. Completed in 2020. Photography by Sabrina Cole Quinn.

Feature in: Luxe Magazine Miami & South Florida Luxury Magazine If visitors to Robyn and Allan Webb’s one-bedroom Miami apartment expect the typical all-white Miami aesthetic, they’ll be pleasantly surprised upon stepping inside. There, bold theatrical colors, like a black textured wallcovering and bright teal sofa, mix with funky patterns, such as a black-and-white striped chair, to create a space that exudes charm. In fact, it’s the wife’s style that initially inspired the design for the home on the 20th floor of a Brickell Key high-rise. “As soon as I saw her with a green leather jacket draped across her shoulders, I knew we would be doing something chic that was nothing like the typical all- white modern Miami aesthetic,” says designer Maite Granda of Robyn’s ensemble the first time they met. The Webbs, who often vacation in Paris, also had a clear vision for their new Miami digs: They wanted it to exude their own modern interpretation of French decor. “We wanted a home that was luxurious and beautiful,” says Robyn, noting they were downsizing from a four-story residence in Alexandria, Virginia. “But it also had to be functional.” To read more visit: https: https://maitegranda.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LX_MIA18_HOM_MaiteGranda_10.pdf Rolando Diaz

Relaxing Farmhouse design. Front living room and dining room. This is the perfect place for my client-physician, wife and mom to wind down after a long day. These two rooms were your typical drop off rooms. The primary need was storage and style. This is an beautiful historical home with no foyer or hall closet. I added a eye catching arch cabinet that helps hide shoes and coats. I love how the arch design breaks up all of the square angle floor plan. I found a great deal on the 2 timeless design swivel chairs. A fun coffee table/storage ottoman adds additional storage. The large chair and half and ottoman allows for hours of snuggles and reading. The fireplace is now a focal point with new stylish battery wall sconces. Long airy linen panels soften the new woven shades- lining for privacy. The family piano is now appreciated and ready for years of playing.