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Suburban Simplicity

January 26, 2015 By JulieG Leave a Comment

A professional couple with two young children lived in a glassy corner condo on the water, dreaming of gardens, grass, stars and fireflies. So they bought a 1950s house in a leafy neighborhood north of downtown.

Old kitchen

Bright and airy

Open to outdoors

From the moment we met, this project was on a very tight schedule, with closing coming in two months. A design-build approach was the best way to meet the clients’ needs. We started with a design workshop to get a feel for the bones of the house and begin to speculate how it might be altered to fit their taste and lifestyle. Design work included a master plan to tie the house to its site with gardens, trellises, terraces, and a swimming pool, and to locate a future guesthouse for grandparents.

Existing first floor plan

Alternate guesthouse locations

New first floor plan

The focus was on simplifying and reducing the space to essentials. We substantially altered the first floor by removing two later additions, shrinking the house’s footprint. Two walls were also removed to open up the living spaces and allow sweeping views of the outdoors.

An airy, modern stair connects to the second floor. Separate his and hers bathrooms became one master bathroom, taking advantage of an old back stair to create a laundry chute. The other bedrooms received new windows and finishes, and bathrooms were updated.

The new master bath was made snug with recycled denim insulation

Living room, before and after

Front entry, before and after

After removal of rear addition

With new, energy-efficient windows and a fresh coat of paint, the updated house is ready for landscaping, which will include a front entry trellis and back terrace. The fireplace and chimney were retained when the old family room addition was removed, extending the indoor living room to the outdoors.

A fast-tracked design and construction made good communication critical. We made use of web sharing technology and 3-D computer visualizations to keep the team up to date and help the client through the many decisions required. Having Greenbuilders involved from the beginning made it possible to complete the project on time and on budget.

This video has many great views of the house interiors, as well as comments by industry experts and project team members on the collaborative design process.

Filed Under: Architecture, Design Workshops, portfolio, Residential Remodel Tagged With: Daylight, Energy efficient, Green roof, Natural ventilation, Radiant heat, Salvaged wood, workshops

Design Consult: Kitchen

April 25, 2012 By JulieG Leave a Comment

Polly Bart of Greenbuilders and I came for a 2-hour collaborative design consult with this Baltimore couple. They wanted to open up the rear living spaces of the house, to allow for better flow. The kitchen was original to the 1940s house and needed to be updated and better integrated into the social life of the family.

Spacious new kitchen with eco-cabinets and bluestone counters from a sustainable source.

Consult sketches: measured plan of existing house + concept sketch for new kitchen

We had good rapport during the consult and a promising design concept, so the owner hired us to develop and build the project. The kitchen cabinets are formaldehyde free and made with sustainably harvested wood, the tile is recycled glass, and the countertops are regionally sourced, ethically quarried soapstone. Everything has a place in this well-planned layout, which includes a custom pantry. New openings between kitchen, dining and living have transformed the family’s enjoyment of the most-used rooms in their home.

Computer sketch used in development of design

Existing kitchen

View from new kitchen through dining to living room

Filed Under: Architecture, Design Workshops, portfolio Tagged With: Certified wood, Daylight

An Abundant Future

April 24, 2012 By JulieG Leave a Comment

LEAFHouse, the University of Maryland’s 2007 Solar Decathlon project, touched hundreds of lives. Over 200 students were involved with the two-year effort, as well as dozens of industry experts and professional tradespeople. Julie Gabrielli was one of three faculty advisors, designing curriculum to guide the students through the process of collaborative, interdisciplinary design; giving feedback on the design; and contributing to the communications package.

The LEAF in the name stands for Leading Everyone to an Abundant Future, and also speaks of the inspiration the team drew from the leaf as nature’s solar collector. The team finished second overall in stiff competition, first in the U.S. LEAFHouse now has a permanent home on the College Park campus, as the headquarters of the Potomac Valley AIA, and is sometimes open for tours.

An abundance of details about the house design, the team, the process, and the Solar Decathlon contests, can be seen on the official website.

Photo by Jim Tetro

Filed Under: Architecture, New Residential, portfolio Tagged With: Active solar, Daylight, Energy efficient, Green wall, Natural ventilation, Passive solar, Radiant heat, Solar hot water

Strawbale Transformation

April 24, 2012 By JulieG Leave a Comment

The musician owners of a 1960s-era house are planning extensive renovations to the living spaces on the first floor. They are committed to using low-impact, non-toxic, sustainable materials. They also desire to wean themselves off fossil fuels, so energy efficiency is a high priority.

As part of a long-range master plan by Gabrielli Design Studio, the first phase was a small addition to the kitchen. Built by Greenbuilders on the existing foundation of a dilapidated screened porch, the structure is post-and-beam with infill strawbale walls and fiberglass-clad windows . The green (planted) roof drains to a chain drain and a rain barrel.

The new room brings daylight deep into the kitchen, while sweeping views upwards along a steep hillside to the sky. The straw walls are clad in lime plaster, the floor is the existing concrete, finished with a natural, plant-based stain and beeswax.

The next phase was going to be a kitchen renovation. But the new room has changed the character of the existing kitchen so dramatically, the owners may not need to renovate it for a long time.

Working with this family has been an inspiration. During the year we worked together on this project, they also chipped away at wasteful practices all around the house. Using tips from friends and from green websites, they reduced their electricity use by 64%! What a difference a little curiosity and a lot of motivation can make in a household’s budget, as well as the health of our planet.

Filed Under: Architecture, Design Workshops, portfolio, Residential Remodel Tagged With: Energy efficient, Green roof, Reused materials, Strawbale

Strawbale Reconstruction

April 24, 2012 By JulieG Leave a Comment

It all started when a tree fell on the house. . . .

We had just met with the client about doing a master plan for renovations to their house. One night during a storm, an enormous tree crashed into the house, shearing off a small powder room and leaving most of the rest of the house mercifully untouched.

Tree removal

New plan

We reconstructed the half bath and entryway with straw bale construction and clerestory windows for privacy. The cabinetry could not be salvaged, so bamboo cabinets were installed. The granite countertop was reused, with a new sink and water-efficient toilet. Exterior siding was salvaged and reused to finish the sides above the strawbales. The shed roof was planted with sedum and a chain rain drain elegantly channels excess water into shallow copper bowls in the garden.

Finished addition

This project included a kitchen facelift with new cabinet doors of bamboo, a recycled tile backsplash, Energy Star refrigerator, and decommissioning the old trash compactor in favor of composting, resulting in more storage space.

Section through addition

Filed Under: Architecture, portfolio, Residential Remodel Tagged With: Green roof, Radiant heat, Strawbale

21st Century Craftsman Bungalow

April 24, 2012 By JulieG Leave a Comment

This new home is nestled at the end of a quiet street in Takoma Park, Maryland. The lot is surrounded by great Tulip Poplars and historic bungalows. Because of new setbacks on the small site, the original one-story house had to be completely deconstructed.

Left: existing house Right: new design

The design and detail is based on the traditional bungalow. A significant amount of space is deftly contained within pleasing proportions and scale that fit the neighborhood. The house has a full basement, two complete living floors and a sizable attic for storage and kids’ lofts.

Care was taken to create a comfortable and efficient home that is well-knit with the site. Orientation of “winter” and “summer” spaces takes advantage of the path of the sun through the day and seasons, allowing for passive heating and cooling. The sunroom, screened porch, and deck with outdoor shower are in-between spaces from which to engage with the outdoors.

A deep commitment to environmental sustainability informed every aspect of the design and construction. A computer energy model helped the team to coordinate the interactions of the building orientation, envelope, and the mechanical system.

Materials:

The existing house was carefully deconstructed so that salvaged materials could be donated or sold, including brick, framing lumber, oak flooring, paneled doors, kitchen appliances, copper and steel pipe, and aluminum. Even the mercury from the old thermostats was recycled, rather than landfilled. Stone from the original chimney was incorporated into the new house.

85% of the construction waste was recycled.

The concrete has a high percentage of fly-ash, a waste product from coal-fired electricity plants that is usually landfilled. Fly-ash offsets the use of cement, the production of which is highly energy –intensive and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Hardie board siding made from cement and recycled wood fibers; front porch timbers from urban salvaged trees; zero-VOC paint; FSC certified wood floors; bamboo floors; water-based stain and varnish; oak trim from urban salvaged trees (cured in a solar-powered kiln); formaldehyde-free cabinetry; cast concrete & recycled glass counters and soaking tub; LED and fluorescent lighting; interior doors of oak veneer over compressed wheat core.

Energy:

Great attention was paid in the construction to proper insulation of all walls and slabs; and air sealing at joints and openings.

Ceiling fans in all bedrooms, the sunroom, dining room and den are a very low-energy way to stay comfortable during swing seasons.

Heat: High-efficiency “Munchkin” boiler, some rooms have radiant floor heat; Tulikivi ceramic stove in Great Room (a few logs can keep the first floor warm for twelve hours)

Energy Star appliances .

Water:

Plumbing: PEX instead of copper. Low-flush and dual-flush toilets; low-flow faucets and shower heads.

Native plant landscaping.

Epstein Residence, photo by Julie Gabrielli

Filed Under: Architecture, New Residential, portfolio Tagged With: Certified wood, Daylight, Energy efficient, Passive solar, Radiant heat, Reused materials, Salvaged wood

Forest Retreat

April 21, 2012 By JulieG 2 Comments

The steep path crosses wetlands and streams as it winds through the forest up the hill and into a clearing. Our clients’ priorities were to maintain a deep connection with the forest and to build with non-toxic materials. We designed an earth-sheltered house with passive solar heating, natural ventilation, and other energy- and resource-efficient elements. Computer energy modeling and building science helped us to optimize the orientation, building elements and heating and cooling systems.

Visitors arrive at the house from the north, through a modest walled garden passageway set into a gentle rise near the top of the site. From within, the house gradually opens outward, towards a dramatic ravine to the southeast. Part buried, part pavilion in the woods, the house alternately acts as cave (refuge) and treehouse (prospect).

The main structure is foam and steel prefabricated panels, for maximum insulation with minimum embodied energy. We found historic chestnut logs salvaged from an 18th century church and a traditional timber framer to build the structure of the Great Room. The clients love it because it feels like a lodge to them.

Other features:

open and screened porches at the forest edge
radiant heat floors
eco-friendly finish materials such as cork, rubber, and locally quarried stone
concrete countertops and Japanese soaking tub made by a local artisan
rain garden and native landscaping
no gutters; rain drips off the roof into a gravel bed and percolates back into the water table
durable Hardi-board siding on the outside

The house has grown into its surroundings over time and provides sensual delights year-round. Great Blue Herons have been known to visit – brazenly stealing fish from the pond. Hints of the client’s experiences of serenity, beauty and wonder can be glimpsed in her album of photographs below.