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The house sits in an established neighborhood filled with 1940s Cape Cods and bungalows from the 1920s and ’30s. As with many of our projects, we wanted to respect the scale of the neighborhood, even if it was a contemporary house, & make sure the house read pleasantly from the street in the context of the houses around it. Kinetic screens are utilized here to enclose the carport & allow the homeowner to attach outdoor art.

With the Pacific Northwest’s abundant greenery but often dreary weather, Elizabeth wanted an indoor-outdoor space that maximized natural light on long-awaited sunny days.

“I’m a pool person,” says Jessica. Daltile penny tile lends a retro feel to the water feature. “Orange and blue are our primary accent colors for the house, so taking them to the backyard was kind of a given,” says Frank. “The orange refers back to the burnt orange from the [1950s] era of the house itself.”

A dune grass “meadow” by garden designer and horticulturist Roy Altaras grows at one end of the pool.

Conceived more similar to a loft space rather than a traditional single family home, the homeowner was seeking to challenge a normal arrangement of rooms in favor of spaces that are dynamic in all 3 dimensions, interact with the yard, and capture the movement of light and air.

Light & air

As an artist & engineer that explores the beauty of natural objects and scenes, the homeowner tasked us with creating a building that was not precious - one that explores the essence of its raw building materials and is not afraid of expressing them as finished. We designed in opportunities for kinetic fixtures, many built by her, to allow flexibility and movement. The result is a building that compliments the casual artistic lifestyle of the occupant as part home, part work space, part gallery. The spaces are intended to be interactive, contemplative, and fun.

Raw, common timber materials were used in rhythm to create a warm and casual canvas for the sunken and double height living space in our Not Precious house.

A view from the loft. Large sliding glass doors allow the sunken living room to be opened up to the outdoors connecting to both the south yard and west patio at our Not Precious project.

The renovation reconfigured the kitchen to include a peninsula, which has a secondary level for the owners' wheelchair-using daughter.

The open-plan kitchen, dining and living room honors the home's original design and heroes the existing stone wall.

One of Amber’s favorite features in in the house is the splash of color in the kitchen backsplash, via a tile called 'Unfading' green slate from Vermont Structural Slate Company.

The clients loved the sound of rainwater splashing onto the rock outcropping and didn't want to lose it, so the design team rigged up a spout that deposits water at the right place to accentuate the sounds the clients love. They then had the idea to collect and recycle the water back on the roof so that the tonal experience can be enjoyed in the dry summers as well.

Greenway Studio designed this home addition In Victoria, British Columbia, to blend in with an existing natural rock formation.

Todd Vogel and Karen Hust renovated their waterfront home on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in accordance with the energy and environmental standards of the Living Building Challenge.

Throughout, concrete floors contrast with Douglas fir walls. Because every additional square foot of space translated to a much higher ridge line, it was a challenge to keep the A-frame from getting too imposing. "<span style="font-family: Theinhardt, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;">It was one of the pivotal moments of the project when we realized we could go down,

The home is in Finchley Central, North London. The clients, Fran and Dave, are hoping to soon add a sebum roof to the extension—a feature that was always part of the plan but was put on hold for budget reasons. “It helps with reducing water run-off and improves biodiversity,” explains architect Simon Knight. “It also gives a nice aspect from the first floor.”

No-fuss, sturdy materials, like Kahrs oak chevron floors that camouflage dirt and easy-care black metal siding, free up time for family. “The more durable the material, the less work to maintain it,” says Susie. Also in the kitchen is a quartz countertop by Daltile and faucet from Kohler. The windows are by Milgard.

The wood-and-white kitchen is one of the most beloved rooms in the home.