DECEMBER 2ND, 2011
By BUILD LLC
[All photos by BUILD LLC]
BUILD just put the finishing touches on a Mid-Century Modern home in Seattle’s Wedgwood neighborhood; a community filled with handsome MCM models. This project is a great example of bringing an older residence up to 21st century standards, while retaining the original charm of the home. The design and construction of an existing structure is always tricky to navigate, especially when key items are important to the home’s character. Subsequently, we rely on systems that have proved themselves over the course of numerous projects. The Guide to Updating Mid-Century Modern Homes is a good starting point and working with extraordinary clients who possess a keen sense of humor definitely helps. Today’s post breaks down the remodel into its constituent parts and calls out the specifications and links to fixtures, appliances, materials and all sorts of good stuff. Enjoy the read and let us know what you think.
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NOVEMBER 22ND, 2011
By BUILD LLC
We’re moving onto drywall with a current project of ours and we’ve got 10 tips to share from our library here at the school of hard knocks. Drywall is typically the phase when the rubber meets the road (or the doo-doo hits the wind-turbine as it may be). If items like framing, hvac and plumbing weren’t adequately thought through, the drywall phase is when a lack of planning or a miscalculation becomes evident. Drywall is also one of the toughest trades to master; it takes a steady hand and a well-experienced eye. Here’s our top 10, hit that comments button and share any advice you might have.
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NOVEMBER 15TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
Siding is one of the most important stages to get right with residential construction for several reasons. It is the first line of defense from the elements; making sure that adequate budget, time, and expertise is spent on the siding system will save time and money elsewhere. The siding system will register the greatest effects of weathering than any other element on a home; for better or worse, the sun’s rays, the driving rain, expansion and contraction will all play a role in how the siding looks in the decades to come –good design anticipates the effects of weathering. More than most aspects of a home, the siding system communicates the philosophy of the design; does the siding reflect the functions of the home or does it conceal the nature of the spaces inside, does the siding create a visual harmony around the structure or does it break the volumes into smaller scales? Lastly, the siding is the face to the outside world; is it integrated with its environment and its neighbors, confidently defiant, or obstinately forward-thinking within a traditional context? These are all important aspects to work through with the design of a siding system. We’ve got 10 pointers to share about siding systems; as always, we’d love to hear about your advice for siding systems.
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NOVEMBER 8TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
While finding door handles and cabinet pulls that look good and function well can be challenging enough, there are a few additional variables that require attention. Establishing a manufacturer/supplier relationship that consistently delivers ALL the required parts and pieces on time is vital. A practical, straight—forward install that the carpenters can figure out without frustration is also important. And last but not least, it’s got to be cost effective (not just the hardware itself, but the whole package inclusive of the aspects above); a modestly priced $75 handle that takes the carpenter 3 hours to install isn’t cost-effective.
Needless to say we’ve been through a lot of hardware over the years. The list of favorites that we currently use is a tried and true selection that we’re very pleased with. They each meet the aesthetic code of everything they need to be and nothing more (we’re always baffled at how difficult it is to find hardware that isn’t “overdesigned”). Let us know what hardware has made the final cut on your projects.
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NOVEMBER 1ST, 2011
By BUILD LLC
Designing and building houses means that we review a lot of plumbing fixtures; and with the overwhelming number of fixtures on the market, it’s critical to filter down the options to a manageable selection from which to choose. By the time we evaluate the function, cost, aesthetics and timeliness of the available fixture options, we’re typically left with only a handful of great fixtures.
There are a number of fixtures on the market that we admire for their aesthetics, like Dornbracht and Vola, but they rarely meet the target budget of a project. So while we’re fans of such fixtures, you won’t find them in the list below; the items on this list meet all of our requirements including a high cost-effectiveness.
It’s a valuable list that we’ve come up with over the years –these are the tried and true fixtures that we continue to use on our projects; and anytime we find valuable information in our database we like to add it to the BUILDblog and share it with the rest of the design community. This is just our list, though. If you’ve got your own favorites we encourage you to share them, because we’re all in this together.
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OCTOBER 28TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
The foundation and backfill are completed on our new Bellevue house and it’s a great time to share a few important tips on groundbreaking and concrete. In line with a modern design philosophy, the foundation should look so simple and straight-forward that it’s a relatively invisible feature once the structure is complete. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the install is easy or mindless. Another key piece of the modern philosophy is that time, effort and thoughtfulness are each crucial to the end product that seems “simple”. Here’s our top 10 bullet points to tackle a new foundation
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OCTOBER 4TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
The roofing was recently completed on our Queen Anne project and it’s a great time to share a few important tips on durable, modern roof design. In line with a modern design philosophy, the roof should look so simple and straight-forward that it almost disappears. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the install is easy or mindless. Another key piece of the modern philosophy is that time, effort and thoughtfulness are each crucial to an end product that “seems” simple. Here’s our top 10 bullet points to tackle a modern roof:
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SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
Being a design-build firm, we spend a lot of time on-site. It allows us to have a very close relationship with how things are built and installed. The construction tends to inform the design process and we’re constantly fine-tuning the architecture side of the business to more accurately align with the materials and methods in the field. Today’s post is a quick hit on systems install. It covers some of the lessons we’ve learned over the years regarding Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing rough-in. These are just our top 10 tips, though, so hit that comments button and share your wisdom.
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AUGUST 26TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
The quality of artificial lighting outside is a significant ingredient of good design here in the Pacific Northwest. Winter solstice releases the sun at 8am each morning and seizes it back again at 4.30pm. Shave off a bit of time for dawn and dusk and the day is left with less than 8 hours of natural light. On top of this brief amount of daylight, it’s not unusual for the sun to hide behind a blanket of clouds for days (even weeks) at a time. But us Seattleites try not to get depressed about it; we use those scant few daylight hours judiciously, we drink a lot of coffee and we appreciate good design in lighting. There may be a bourbon or two mixed in there as well –because nothing warms the soul in the dead of winter like a 15 year Pappy van Winkle on the rocks. Where were we… ah, yes lighting, exterior lighting to be exact.
So the idea of exterior lighting becomes a psychological matter as well as an aesthetic one. Exterior lighting, under the conditions here in the Pacific Northwest, involves a variety of different applications; so for today’s post we decided to get all scientific and break exterior lighting into 8 different species relating to the application. We’ve provided the manufacturer and model for the lights we use in each of these applications. There are inevitably many more and we’re always interested to hear from you.
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AUGUST 2ND, 2011
By BUILD LLC
[All photos by BUILD LLC]
A residential project of ours is currently being framed, which means that we’re spending lots of time on site checking the structure in relation to our design intent. Framing is tricky – it sets the stage for everything else about the project and an overlooked detail in framing can have serious repercussions with the finished product later. There’s a handful of tips and tricks that separate crisp, modern architecture from ordinary projects; we’ve rounded up our top 10 bullet points along with some recent site photos. Let us know what you know.
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