Filed under: Architecture, BUILD LLC, Seattle, Suburban Architecture, Technical Posts
BUILD LLC recently completed the design and remodel of a mid-century modern home in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood and has some valuable information to share. As with many of Seattle’s mid-century residences, this home was overdue for considerable updates. The “bones” of these structures are typically very solid; the concrete and framing can be surgically retained and, oftentimes, featured for their richness and texture. Efforts and funds can be directed toward reorganization of the space planning as well as the kitchen, bathrooms, cabinet package, surfaces and systems (heating, plumbing, electrical).
As with any project, a great final outcome can be directly attributed to extraordinary clients. This family understood the value of their mid-century modern home and put an importance on smarter space rather than more space. The team was able to maintain the mid-century modern character of the home and, at the same time, fully renovate the home, site and pool for the current era and many years to come.
With several mid-century modern residences in our portfolio, we’ve developed some good strategies for cost-effective remodels and updates to these homes. The cost of the house remodel was $150 per square foot including hard costs, tax and builder fees. The technical information can be found below and a photo-montage video of the construction process can be found at the bottom of the post.
1. Existing light well upgraded with new roof and Milgard aluminum windows
2. Galvanized steel channel frame at chimney cap
3. New single-ply roof membrane over new rigid insulation
4. Existing brick stained deep caviar
5. Hardie-panel siding painted pewter
6. Existing brick planter boxes
7. Clear finished fir door with reeded glass panel
8. Milgard aluminum window package
9. Fleetwood aluminum sliding door package
10. Galvanized steel handrail verticals with Feeney Cable-Rail components and ipe top rail
11. Ipe decking and fascia
12. Stained clear cedar slats with vertical cedar posts (code required pool enclosure)
13. Open risers with precast concrete treads by Diamond Concrete Products
14. Raumplus sliding glass doors with laminated glass
15. Original T&G refinished decking, over original roof joists painted deep caviar
16. Original sandstone masonry left untreated
17. Eurotech Lighting ET-2 cylinder pendant lights
18. Custom steel firebox and hearth inserted into original fireplace
19. Original oak floor with new ebonized stain
20. Shoemaker AFP series aluminum floor register
21. Custom dining table with steel frame and anigre top by Special Projects Division
22. Honed Raven Caesarstone countertop and anigre cabinets by Special Projects Division
23. Kohler Ladena undermount porcelain sink with Whitehaus Luxe single hole faucet
24. Stainless steel backsplash
25. Solid core door with Omnia 025 passage lever
26. Fisher Paykel RF201ADUX stainless steel refrigerator
27. Porcher Newson Vitreous China 6’-0” freestanding tub
28. Fisher Paykel OS302 stainless steel wall oven
29. 12” x 18” Porcelain floor tile
30. Gaggenau AH 900-791extension hood
31. Miele KM3484 gas cooktop
32. Anigre custom cabinets with full length stainless steel pulls by Special Projects Division
33. “Floating” anigre shelf with integrated Seagull ‘puck’ lights, satin chrome finish.
34. Custom stainless steel countertop with orbital finish and integral sink, extended to exterior for bbq platform.
Photo-montage construction video
[All photos, images, videos, diagrams and drawings by BUILD llc]
Filed under: Architecture, BUILD LLC, Seattle, Technical Posts, Urban Architecture
Monday September 29th marks the opening of Picnic, a brand new food and wine boutique here in Seattle on Phinney Ridge at 6801 Greenwood Ave N. Owners Anson and Jenny are a couple of uber-talented chefs and culinary visionaries who came up with the concept and brought it straight to BUILD llc. We were quickly enrolled in their vision and proceeded with the design and build-out.
[photos by BUILD llc]
The finished space is clean, sleek, uncluttered and vibrant. It focuses on plenty of display area for delicious products and options, without overwhelming the consumer. The goal was to create an inviting space, a storefront that is visible and enticing for passer-bys. The interior is modern and refined but still evokes a sense of establishment and demonstrates Anson and Jenny’s expertise in food and wine. Picnic is creating some of the top take-away food in the city and doing so without the food becoming too precious or fussy.
[photos by BUILD llc]
Here’s the BUILD technical scoop:
1. Dark-stained quarter sawn walnut cabinets with conversion varnish, and adjustable shelves. All exposed faces were fabricated by Special Projects Division (SPD) with sequenced (all from the same log) veneers on platform material using a 10’ vacuum press.
2. Exposed ducting, plumbing, electrical and fire sprinkler systems, painted white to match walls & ceiling.
3. Custom fabricated steel ladder on casters and mounted to steel tracks at top and bottom of wine cabinet. Ladder assembly is cold rolled steel, cleaned, blackened and waxed.
4. Stainless steel sleeves at adjustable shelf pins (part of SPD cabinet package).
5. Custom fabricated steel frame movable tables on casters, walnut table tops and acrylic shelves (by SPD). The tables serve dual purposes of display/ storage and convert to dining tables for special events. The steel frames are an assembly of hot rolled steel angles which were wheel-abrated & waxed and cold rolled steel tubes which were blackened & waxed. The goal was to get the disparate types of steel to appear similar in color/ texture. The steel assembly is mechanically fastened with thru-bolts.
6. Recessed display cabinet made from mangue wood (by SPD). It’s on axis with entry and provides a backdrop to the entry.
7. Solid wood door with frameless single rabbet jamb. L-metal inserted into dato around frame and taped to (and finished with) drywall.
8. Custom fabricated stainless steel filler panels so that wine refrigeration unit flushes out with adjacent refrigeration units (part of SPD casework). The wine fridge is the EuroCave Performance 259 Wine Cellar.
9. Stainless steel refrigeration unit with glass doors by True Mfg, model TS-49G-4.
10. 14-ply ¾” void-less material w/ maple finish veneer- commonly referred to as “apple-ply”.
11. Existing slab on grade with Ardex Feather Finish skim coat and sealed with polyurethane. It was challenging getting the separate pours (from separate bags) to color match with one another.
12. Rubber base by Roppe.
13. Resolute lighting: “David” line.
14. Existing concrete columns painted dark.
15. Custom fabricated steel frame movable table on casters with solid maple “butcher-block” tabletop (by SPD).
16. Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chairs and bar chairs.
It wouldn’t be a BUILD project synopsis with out a construction photo montage:
and, naturally, this modern addition to the city is up on The Modern List Seattle. Whew… did we cover everything? So enough about design and construction, get yourself over to picnic and have some phenomenal eats…
Picnic a food + wine boutique
6801 Greenwood Avenue North
Seattle WA 98103
206.453.5867
Filed under: Architecture, BUILD LLC, Seattle, Suburban Architecture, Technical Posts, Trades
BUILD llc recently completed a home on Bainbridge Island here in the northwest that uses some materials and methods that may be of interest. The home was designed and built for Dr. Marc Ferrin. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: good projects are the direct result of extraordinary homeowners willing to partake in the adventure of design and construction & trust our guidance.
[all images by BUILD llc]
1. Orchard of low-growing fruit trees on a pure geometrical grid.
2. Gravel hardscape.
3. Milgard aluminum windows with bronze finish – the dark, minimal corner mullion gives the appearance of a corner window.
4. Blomus stainless steel mailbox on custom steel plate stand with punched numbering. Mailbox sold by Pure Modern.
5. Milgard aluminum window system with bronze finish. The roof joist support beams are pulled back into the living space and exposed – this allows the window system to extend all the way to the roof joists.
6. MDO soffits painted white as a visual extension of the interior drywall lid. Exterior grade can lights installed at soffit.
7. Rainscreen siding system composed of Cembonit panels by CBF. For an explanation of rainscreen systems click here.
8. Cable rail system by Feeney Cable Rails with custom fabricated galvanized steel verticals and custom ipe top rail.
9. Clear sealed fir exterior door with tempered glass panel and weather-stripping. Reeded glass panels at entry door, clear at all others.
10. Clear T&G cedar mounted vertically and clear sealed. These particular boards span the entire height of the house.
11 Single membrane “flat” roof sloped ¼” per foot and concealed with parapet.
12. Outdoor shower (Kohler Stillness series) with winter shut off valve located inside house at conditioned area.
13. Clerestory windows add additional light to the upstairs hallway and maintain privacy.
14. Chimney capped with galvanized steel wide flange frame to conceal vent cap.
15. Standing seam metal roof with minimal vent penetrations.
16. Cedar fascia stained dark to match the window system.
17. A cantilevered bay allows for extra area inside but doesn’t change the line of the concrete foundation wall below. The change in form is reflected by using a different material at the cantilever.
18. Flush panel wood garage door by Clopay, painted dark to match soffits and blend with window package.
19. Strategically located vegetation to eventually hide the heat pump.
20. Rainscreen panel breaks strategically align with changes in plane.
[all images by BUILD llc]
21. Cold rolled custom steel handrail with blackened finish.
22. Vertically mounted aluminum return air grill – custom size by Shoemaker AFP series.
23. 1×4 flush base trim, pre-primed mdf, painted.
24. Prefabricated concrete stair treads by Diamond Concrete Products.
25. Miele DA series island hood.
26. Thin fin-wall made from 1-3/4” x 11-7/8” LVLs stacked end to end and wrapped with GWB, painted.
27. Slot window – as part of the sequence of entry a visitor gets a peak at the extraordinary view.
28. Absolute black granite countertops with slight eased edge.
29. Lutron Diva light switches with stainless steel cover plates – all devices mounted at a common datum line around the house.
30. Bamboo vertical grain flooring.
31. Custom galvanized vertical guardrails drilled to receive Feeney Cable Rail system.
32. 1×6 ipe decking
33. 5’ foot wide sliding door to pantry – the cabinets are notched to receive sliding door.
34. Maple cabinets by Canyon Creek Cabinet Company with Mockett satin chrome tab pulls.
35. The clerestory window at the shower allows natural daylight but maintains privacy.
36. Milgard aluminum floor to ceiling window system with bronze finish.
37. Kohler Stillness series shower fixtures.
38. Epco polished chrome shower curtain rod.
For more information on the Ferrin Residence check out the YouTube digital model and the YouTube time elapse construction process.
