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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JULY 12TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
[All photos by BUILD LLC]
Demolition may very well be the most exciting and speedy phase of construction. For a complete demotion, a home can come down and be entirely removed from the site in a day or two; for a thorough remodel (where large portions of the structure are maintained) the entire demo process can be completed within a week. But while demolition is typically fast and messy, it’s not necessarily mindless and uncomplicated. There’s actually quite a bit to know about demo; beginning demolition without a clear strategy can have significant time and financial repercussions later.
We just completed the demolition on a current project of ours and it’s a good time to share some knowledge and site photos. This is just one situation with its own set of circumstances and the variables change with each project. With that said, here is our top ten list of demo basics:
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NOVEMBER 8TH, 2010
By BUILD LLC
[All photos by BUILD LLC]
BUILD LLC’s most recently completed project is a mid-century modern home in Seattle’s Innis Arden neighborhood. We covered the exterior of the home in a previous post and today we’ll take an in-depth look at the interior architectural package.
Remodeling a home from the 1950’s makes sense for several reasons; the foundation and framing of houses from this era are typically well constructed, the existing framing is usually straight-forward and can be efficiently modified in key areas, and the interior layouts are simple and relatively open. What this means for us architects, is that you can bring a mid-century home up to date cost-effectively. By staying within the existing envelope, construction dollars were focused on a new kitchen, new bathrooms, new cabinets and new surfaces throughout. The construction costs came to $152 per square foot on this project – for a list of everything included in that number, click here.
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NOVEMBER 2ND, 2010
By BUILD LLC
[All photos and drawings by BUILD LLC]
BUILD LLC just completed the substantial renovation to a mid-century modern home in Seattle’s Innis Arden neighborhood. We thoroughly enjoyed working on this project and couldn’t be more proud of the finished product. There are a couple of key ingredients essential to a project as rewarding as this. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again –behind every great project are extraordinary homeowners and this project is a perfect example. They courageously dove into the adventure of design and construction and we are absolutely honored to have worked with them. The existing home itself incorporated clean lines and a straight-forward design. The original floor plan was open and flexible, the framing was in good shape, and the foundation was solid. All things considered, it was a great departure point.
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OCTOBER 29TH, 2010
By BUILD LLC
We just wrapped up a handsome remodel of a mid-century modern home and the project includes a sauna that we’re quite proud of. You might think, with an item as specialized as a sauna, that you need to buy a kit or have a specialty contractor do the install. This isn’t necessarily the case as we’ve been finding. We’ve designed and built saunas into a couple of projects now and we’ve put together a kit-of-parts for a basic sauna design and assembly. If you follow the BUILDblog you know that we like to get good design out there in the world because a rising tide raises all boats. Today’s post includes details, photos and some specifications from our most recent sauna package.
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OCTOBER 18TH, 2010
By BUILD LLC
Modernism isn’t so much a style as it is a way of thinking -a philosophy if you will. The modern mindset guides nearly everything about how a home is designed and constructed, even down to the base trim details. As with modern design in general, modern base details are intentional and functional –they are everything they need to be and nothing more. Today’s post covers three of BUILD LLC’s favorite modern base details, complete with construction details. The good news is that many of the examples are hot off the press and just completed on a recent project, the bad news is that there’s a bit of dust to put up with -please pardon the mess.
For comparison purposes, here is a standard applied base detail (below), typically a 3-1/2” profile applied on top of the drywall. In more traditional applications there’s even a small piece of quarter round in the corner of the base trim and the floor – a base for the base.
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JUNE 26TH, 2010
By BUILD LLC
BUILD LLC just wrapped up a sharp, modern residence in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood and it’s a perfect time to share some materials, methods and design ideas. We decided years ago that the BUILDblog would be dedicated to transparency and getting useful information out there in the world about design and architecture. This project, in particular, is an excellent means to do so as the owner, Mike Davidson, has kept the most thorough journal/blog we’ve ever seen on a residential project. A HOUSE BY THE PARK documents everything from talking to realtors about buying the land, through the design and construction process, all the way down to the punch list. It’s an objective, accurate look at home construction and you should check it out. Give the owner some kudos for the achievement and supporting architecture!
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