The Tinbeerwah house and studio keep a low profile among the site’s eucalyptus trees.

“A building can have far greater impact than the space it stands in.”—William Carpenter, architect and resident

The Jorgensen's Menlo Park home is a model of green design with features that are smart for everyone to consider. "Every project is different, but there are some universal things that will apply from project to project," says Feldman about designing a green home. "The first—and most obvious thing—is to always try to build less, to have a smaller house and be smart about how the rooms are designed and oriented so that you can get by with less space. Smart design will lead to a smaller building, but it won't feel smaller."

New zoning allowed for a zero-lot-line structure, but required a public storefront, which Carpenter uses as an art gallery.

Site work in progress.

Rian and Melissa Jorgensen's 2 Bar House in Menlo Park boasts all the usual green design suspects: energy-efficient lighting, good insulation, renewable material finishes, radiant heat, and the roof is pre-wired for future PV panels. Executed by Feldman Architecture, the house requires only natural lighting during the day which keeps energy costs way down. Still, the most stunning aspect of the green design is the living roof planted with succulents, aloe, viviums, and ice plants. "I'm absolutely glad that we did it," says Melissa. "It turned out so well and I really enjoy sitting up there and taking advantage of it as much as I can. It's very peaceful." Read more about this total remodel here.

The countertops in the kitchen are a mix of quartz surfaces and custom and salvaged stainless steel. "We use the kitchen all of the time, it turned out really nice," says Melissa. "It's very open, certainly one of the central focuses of the house, and is fun for entertaining."

The living room, dining room and kitchen are in one open space. The flooring is bamboo. The cabinetry is a mix of bamboo, walnut, and maple, and was fabricated by City Cabinetmakers out of San Francisco.

Future site view. Overgrown 21+ acre forested site.

Collage of site photos overlaid on top of previous owner's site plan. Site was unoccupied when purchased.

OPA wanted to free themselves from logic imposed by a grid and considered various inefficient configurations of shipping containers. They settled on a combination of options, seen in the trikselion shape here. The Presidio, San Francisco, California. Mobile exhibition pavilion for the For-Site Foundation. © Tim Griffith.

site design group, ltd. The award-winning landscape firm behind sites such as Mary Bartelme Park took over the penthouse of the historic Crane Company Building, designed by Holabird & Roche in 1912, and turned it into a playful, open workspace.

For more informartion on the project, visit gracefarms.org.

The site of much permit-wrangling.

A wider look at the building's siting.

Shelter No. 2, Broisson Architects, 2008 This prefab made mostly of recycled materials is modest, but not too modest for a spiral staircase. Three levels culminate in a large skylight, which filters natural light all the way down to the ground floor's hydroponic garden.

It Will Get Loud: A Small Speaker That's Big on Sound Home audio companies are managing to make speakers smaller, more portable, and more wallet-friendly while keeping sound quality as robust as their larger (and pricier) brethren. Soundfreaq's co-founder and creative director Matthew Paprocki will demo and deconstruct the award-winning Sound Stack and demo Sound Platform 2 to let you in on the technology behind making big sound come from a tiny package. See this Saturday, June 22, at 12:30 p.m. on the Demonstration Stage.

The couple asked Bryan Richards of Real Natives Landscape Design to incorporate drought-tolerant plants into the landscaping. Surrounding a table from CB2 are chairs from Design Within Reach.

The interior is furnished with Lubi Daybeds from CB2, which Howell and Porter designed to include hidden cubbies behind and beneath the cushions.

A collage of images showing the site and scenes from the design and site preparation process.

For privacy and quiet, the home's three bedrooms are situated the furthest from the street. Each faces its own courtyard.

Menlo Residence Site Plan A Ipe Deck (rear) B Gravel C Concrete Pavers D House E Driveway F Ipe Deck (front) G Ipe Fence and Gate

"The idea behind the building is for a grounded, timber element extending along the Western side of the block, which creates a screen for the rest of the site," Blue says. He specified farmed timber, engineered wood for framing, high levels of insulation, and an evacuated tube solar hot water system to help the house become more green. A layout that facilitates cross ventilation helps reduce the need for air conditioning in the summer.

Ginn will also place an acoustic, light, and fiber installation in the center of the gallery floor. Both works are site-specific.

Bricks are made of rock, gravel, clay, and silt from an old quarry near the building site.

“Technical products like hi-fi fit more easily into all kinds of surroundings than those old furniture look-alike ones.”—Dieter Rams, designer

See Arch removed a wall to create a more spacious kitchen with a stronger visual connection to the dining area. The updated kitchen is outfitted with quartz countertops and Viking, Fisher Paykel, and Asko appliances.

"In some ways the strongest attributes of the house are probably the outside spaces,” says Court. The original cedar deck was replaced with Kebony decking that wraps around a century-old cherry tree. A pair of Andy rockers from Mamagreen face an ottoman by Kenneth Cobonpue. The accordion doors are a NanaWall SL-60 system that allows the main room of the guesthouse to open completely to the deck.

The term “Internet of Things” was first documented by British visionary Kevin Ashton in 1999. The first Internet appliance was a Coke machine at Carnegie Melon University in the early 1980s. The programmers could connect to the machine over the Internet, check the status of the machine and determine whether or not there would be a cold drink awaiting them, should they decide to make the trip down to the machine.

2-Door Cupboard in scrapwood

The courtyards offer a peaceful respite from the city. "[The home] provides an environment for its inhabitants that is experiential," says Teschendorrf.

2-Door Cupboard in scrapwood