PORTFOLIO

This house was built on a solid granite hill, has its own private cove off the lake and excellent views across the water. To take advantage of the views, the house has floor to ceiling windows facing the lake, and porches on both floors with glass or cable rails. The interior has lots of natural light and cozy spaces, with the main living area connected to the lakeside porch and outdoor kitchen through oversize doors. The interior has a steel and glass stair, exposed ductwork, sloping ceilings, floating cabinets and modern touches throughout.

This residence is located in the historic district of Los Gatos, California. The original single story home sat on a tiny lot and was about 600 square feet. The owner wanted to double its size, but this area of the city has very limiting restrictions. The only solution was to add another story, but due to the historic nature of the house, we were not allowed to remove that much of the house. Instead we detached the house from its foundation, jacked it up, built a new first floor underneath it, lowered the existing house down and attached it all together. The owner was very pleased with the final result.

One World Montessori is a school for infants to children up to the age of 5. The gabled building forms at the front and back are meant to evoke house imagery, with each ‘house’ designating a separate classroom and each with a different color so the children can identify their space. All classrooms have large windows and ample natural light so during the day, most rooms won’t need electrical lighting.

Nolan Ryan and his son Reese, founders of R Bank, wanted a building to house their expanding staff and growing business. The first floor is custom built for their staff and the second floor leased out to prospective tenants. Both floors have excellent views of the adjacent Round Rock Express stadium through oversize windows with half of them shaded by steel awnings.

Dr. Worley’s expanding practice outgrew his previous small office, so together we designed a much larger, and more open, office. All offices and patient rooms are filled with natural lights through large windows, and the central areas are all open to each other, well lit, and have ample space for all activities without feeling crowded. With the new layout, the doctor can see many more patients throughout the day, helping to expand his practice.

This modern East Austin duplex was built with the carport roof being the only physical connection between each side, before the City changed its rules regarding unit connection. Separating the two units reduces the apparent size of the structure and helps it blend in with the surrounding homes.

The Village on Congress is a mixed use community combining office, retail and living spaces in many different buildings set within green space along South Congress. For Phase 1, seven townhouses have been positioned along the perimeter of the property underneath large oaks, sharing courtyards with other townhomes and all with views of the rest of the community. Each townhome features a private garage, entrance and balcony, with tall ceilings, large windows and modern detailing and materials. The mixed use building facing Congress contains retail space and a café on the first floor with two stories of flats above. Each flat has a ground floor garage with a glass garage door so it can be used as a studio if desired. The living room and kitchen have 14 foot tall ceilings, large windows, concrete floors, multifunctional rooms and floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall translucent panels facing Congress. At night the glow from the flats’ interiors through the panels is very dramatic.

This project was designed while at Block 16 Architects. Meals on Wheels wanted to double their meal capacity, expand and renovate their existing space and add a new street facade. We dramatically improved the kitchen layout and equipment (with the design expertise of Counihan & Associates) and provided a 20,000 square foot structure on the second floor, shading a new parking lot below. The building structure is pre-engineered metal with clerestory windows to eliminate the need for electrical lighting during a sunny day. Along the street, a series of concrete cubes of varying heights set amongst shade trees soften the street presence and provide an interesting lunch spot for those wanting a little time away from their desk. The project came in around $1M under budget and met all their programmatic needs.

The Schmidts bought a 1970s house in need of renovation with the goal of transforming it into a more modern residence. All spaces in the original house were relatively small by today’s standards and walled off from one another, limiting its livability. Our main goal in the renovation was to remove boundaries between rooms and open spaces to each other, increasing the apparent size of the house and allowing rooms to flow together. A good deal of thought was spent creating long interior views through the house from kitchen through the dining to the living room, and from the dining through the entry to the gallery. These long views give the impression of a larger house and a feeling of greater connectedness for each space and those within it. To differentiate each space we added a variety of ceiling heights and lighting types, sloped ceilings, and furrdowns. Although the house feels large now, each individual space is comfortable and fits the lifestyle of its owners.

This project was designed while at Block 16 Architects. It is certified LEED Gold, the second highest energy efficiency rating, and at the time, the first LEED Gold office building in Austin. The challenge with this project was quantifying so many efficient systems in one building.