Design for a New Vacation House

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Our design is finalized and construction will begin soon on a new vacation house in rural Michigan!

The clients asked for a house big enough for their whole family to retreat to, with a large kitchen and living space; a design that refers to a rural vernacular and stands where an old barn recently collapsed; and energy efficiency, including no fossil fuel use. Our design features three integrated geometric volumes with a striking profile, passive solar heating, and solar panels for renewable electric generation.

Get a sneak peek at what this will look like in the scenes below from our blueprints and schematic model!

Edgewater Addition

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Working on a residential addition in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. Adding living space closer to the garden!

City Boulevard Renovation

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Here's a photo from a site visit today. This is mid-construction of a drop ceiling with cove lighting above a dining room.

Chicago River Stairs

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These new stairs were completed just in time for the upcoming tour boat season! The project involved lowering the dock to accommodate the boat deck height and building new stairs between the esplanade level and the boat dock. We worked with Zera Construction.

Michigan Vacation House

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Construction was completed last winter on this new 900-sf vacation house in Empire, Michigan. The site abuts a national park, and the house is designed primarily for outdoor living, with an expansive deck connecting two living pods. This energy-efficient house is tightly constructed, well-insulated, and uses a wood-burning stove as the main heat source.

This project was especially exciting for us as it represents the culmination of a delightful collaboration with the owners, who came to us with strong design ideas that meshed with our own principles of compactness, energy efficiency, honesty of materials, and modern aesthetics.

 

Damen Ave

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The Damen Avenue house renovation and addition is nearing completion. The owner is excited that he can begin his planting in time for the springtime growing season.