A modern house on a tight, urban infill lot was created for this client who desired a home both for entertaining and to accommodate an extended family. The open 1st floor plan flows into the rear yard, two roof decks extend the integration of the interior and exterior spaces, and the exterior skin is a counterpoise between a predominant white stucco finish and western red cedar.
This spec residence had 3 audiences to please: The owner/developer who built it, the immediate neighborhood, and the market the house was targeted for. The house is sited on a corner lot at the crest of a hill with views of downtown Bethesda, Md. The neighborhood is a close knit amalgam of mid-20th century colonials, new and predictably safe spec homes, and a few early 20th century Victorian homes.
The developer’s program and the lot configuration led to a square footprint while the eclectic context of the neighborhood suggested some creative room to breathe. The precedent of a hipped roof, Four Square was invoked albeit with a modernist, restrained approach. The exterior employed minimal detail with a subdued color palette: Light roof shingles and no eave extensions; dark metal, box gutters/downspouts, window/door frames, and railings; no door/window casings; flat roofed projections with wood siding; and unornamented columns.
The interior allowed for much more freedom of expression. The open stair became a unifying element at the core of the 4 square. The kitchen, baths, lighting, fireplace mantle, and general layout continue the subdued color palette and spare detailing of the exterior.
Our clients desired a modest addition/renovation to the first floor of their home involving the redesign of their kitchen and the addition of a new modest family room, breakfast room, and bathroom. The verdant rear yard provided a springboard for the design; the lack of context and abundance of nature enabled a modernist approach to the addition. Both classical and modern detailing were employed in the design.
This was the winning entry for an affordable housing design competition sponsored by the City of College Park, Maryland which resulted in 6 new single family homes. These 1,200 sf, 1 story homes have 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a modest kitchen, breakfast room, and a combined living/dining space. The central feature is an offset along the length of the house which separates the public and private blocks of the house and allows for a window wall at each offset.
· Maryland Affordable Housing Competition award winner.
· Affordable Housing Conference of Montgomery County, Maryland award winner.
This house, sited on a steeply sloping site, derives its inspiration from the pair of rear legs on a grasshopper. The expression of the structural “legs” are a direct response to the site conditions. The house is conceived as 3 elements: a largely transparent, cantilevered rectangle containing living spaces; a much more opaque, vertical element containing private and utility spaces; and the structural “legs” which support the cantilevered section and tie the structure together.
This business/residence for a software designer and developer was conceived as a group of platonic forms joined together. The rectangular form contains business use on the 1st and 2nd floors, the hexagonal 3rd floor is the residential suite with a roof deck, the triangular stair tower joins all 3 floors, and the suspension bridge linking to the triangular design studio becomes a metaphor for the process of an idea becoming reality.
A complete overhaul of a small cape cod on a small urban lot was undertaken. The client loved their neighborhood/street/ home and its proximity to their synagogue and downtown. By addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication their new home was realized for their family and future.
This project was to be a non-denominational retreat for adults intended as a short term residence for those seeking spiritual enrichment. The design is conceived as two intersecting axes: the long axis is a series of tall spaces containing kitchen, dining, music hall, study, meditation courtyard, and studio, and the short axis contains the entry hall, music hall, meeting room, and sunroom with the second and third floors containing private bedroom suites. The exterior of the building borrows from the local barn vernacular.
