Northgate Kitchen Remodel

H2D Architecture + Design has recently completed a kitchen remodel in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle.  The couple purchased the home several years ago with the goal of remodeling the awkward existing kitchen (see the before photo below!).  The design goals were to open the space to create a more functional kitchen, bring in more natural light, and provide a space for the couple to enjoy cooking and entertaining.

View of the new kitchen.

BEFORE!!

Close up of the Blue Star range.

New peninsula with bar seating for casual eating or entertaining.

Cubbies for fresh fruit and veggies.

Custom maple cabinetry throughout the kitchen.

Barn door hardware close up.

Uniquely beautiful countertop by Corian.

Construction:  Gaspar’s Construction

Cabinetry:  Architectural Cabinets

Countertop:  Corian Countertop

Range:  Blue Star

Photos by: Chris Watkins Photography

Seattle Green Custom Home

Construction has begun on the Seattle Green Custom Home!  Follow the progress as we go from deconstruction to a beautiful new home.  We will be posting with the most recent at the top of this post…so be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the before photo!  Learn more about the design process…

Concrete

• Portions of the existing foundation are being reused for the new home.

Deconstruction

• Salvage companies came first to strip the house of useable building materials:  windows, fixtures, furnace, and flooring.
• Friends also salvaged some items to use in other projects: flooring, drawers, and paneling
• Items were salvaged for reuse in the new house:  appliances, fixtures, stone, and some cable.
• The remainder of the house was demolished and recycled at a commingled recycling center with a recycling rate of 85%.

 

Before….

Bridle Trails Neighborhood Kitchen Remodel

H2D Architecture + Design recently completed a kitchen remodel for a wonderful family in the Bridle Trails neighborhood of Bellevue.  The clients began with a vision for opening up the small kitchen to the voluminous vaulted dining room.  Storage and workspace was difficult to come by in the existing space, so these items were top of the list for the remodel.  Heidi and the clients worked together to come up with a design that not only opened up the kitchen to the dining room, but also allowed for generous storage and efficient workspaces.  Additionally, bar seating areas were created for entertaining.  Working together with the vibrant clients and reliable contractor, we created a good team to execute a beautiful project on budget and on time.

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Contractor:  Envision Homes

Photos by:  Chris Watkins Photography

2010 Year in Review

2010 has been a great year full of diverse projects and wonderful clients.  H2D has been working on :  a floating home addition, a new green custom home, house raising and whole house remodel, naturopathic clinic and retail space, several kitchen remodels, and additions.

Thank you to all of our clients and construction partners!

NCompass Construction

Creative By Design

Envision Homes

Bright Street Construction

Thomas Jacobson Construction

Bellevue Addition and Remodel

Wood joinery at new front porch and rear gazebo.

H2D Architecture + Design recently completed this major remodel and addition to a Bellevue home.  The family came to H2D with a vision of remodeling the master suite, fixing an existing leaky balcony, and creating an outdoor living area with a hot tub gazebo and large deck.  As construction began, the project grew to great proportions when the contractor discovered that a previous addition to the rear of the home was not connected to the existing house.  The result of this discovery was that the whole rear of the house needed to be removed due to the unsound existing construction.  Through some immediate, creative planning, the dilemma turned out to have some positive benefits.  The new rear addition allowed for a larger master suite, guest bedroom, office space, and guest bathroom, while maintaining the expansive outdoor living area and gazebo.

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Photos by: Chris Watkins Photography

Greenwood Farmhouse

One of H2D’s recently completed projects is a kitchen and bathroom remodel for a century old farmhouse in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle.  H2D and the owners worked for several months on a holistic plan for bringing back the original traditional style of the home, inclusive of a whole house remodel and addition to the rear of the house.  The project was broken into several phases that met the owner’s budget.  Phase One entailed remodeling the kitchen and adding a new bathroom to the upper floor.  These finished spaces are an amazing tranformation from the existing spaces.  Traditional detailing for the remodeled spaces was essential to this project.  Period style tilework, millwork, and flooring was chosen to help restore the historic period of the home. 

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Before Kitchen Photos

View from kitchen to dining

Kitchen view from dining room

Shaker style cabinetry

bread and backsplash

Quartz countertop closeup with Marmoleum flooring beyond.

New Second Floor Bathroom

Bathroom with detailed tile floor.

Close up on the bathroom lights.

Black and white hex tile with a flower pattern.

 Project Details: 

 Contractor: NCompass Construction

 Cabinetry:  Superior Cabinets

 Flooring:  Marmoleum

 Countertop:  Caesarstone Quartz

 Tile:  Ambiente Tile 

 Photos by:  Chris Watkins Photography

Air Sealing Is the Unseen Key

Article by Alison Kartiganer and Bruce Minturn with Vesta Home Performance Retrofitting

Utilities and government are offering a lot of incentives these days on insulation, and many homeowners are taking advantage of them. However, there is one piece of that process, air sealing, which is often neglected but plays a key role in improving the comfort, durability, indoor air quality, and energy efficiency of a home.

Every home has many penetrations between its conditioned space (the living space) and its unconditioned space (such as attics and crawlspaces). Many of these penetrations, or holes, were created during the home’s original construction, while the rest resulted from electrical, plumbing, or mechanical work that happened later. Every one of those holes can let indoor air leak out of the house, carrying with it the energy used to heat or cool it, or let outdoor air leak into the house, carrying with it the undesirable dust and contamination from a crawlspace or attic. When there are holes both low and high in a house, a chimney effect is created, whereby air enters the house from below to replace air leaving the house from above.

Air sealing (and duct sealing for air ducts) is the key to blocking those leaky penetrations. Combined with insulation, air sealing creates a secure boundary around the house which keeps warm air in, while keeping cold, dank, and dusty air out. If you are considering an insulation project, be sure to ask your contractor about air sealing (and duct sealing, if your home has air ducts). To discover how air, energy, and moisture are moving through your home, consult a home performance specialist for a complete home energy assessment.

Seattle Green Custom Home

H2D Architecture + Design’s latest project, a Seattle Green Custom Home, is developing.  We are continuing to work as a team with the client to design an efficient, sustainable family home.  See the latest photos as the design develops.  Click here to learn more about the project.  Stay tuned as the project begins construction in Fall or Winter 2010…

New Custom Seattle Home: Schematic Design

H2D‘s most recent project is a new custom residence in Seattle.  We have just completed the schematic design phase for the client.  The three options below were presented to the client to demonstrate several design ideas as options to pursue for the new home.

Project goals: Incorporate solar energy, design an energy efficient building envelope, utilize sustainable building materials and methods, recycle and/or re-purpose the existing house on the property during deconstruction, and create a warm, friendly family home.

Scheme 1: The style of the house is modern with a shed roof.  The large upper roof is oriented to maximize solar access to house photovoltaic panels and a solar water heating unit.  Materials for this scheme and the other two are designed to be sustainable, low maintenance, and long lasting.

Scheme 2: This traditional style home presents a contemporary craftsman feel.  The roof is oriented to maximize solar access, as well as passive solar opportunities.  Generous decks wrap around the south and west exposures for outdoor living.

Scheme 3: This modern style residence is designed with a split shed roof.  The roof is oriented to allow for maximum solar access, as well as passive solar opportunities.  Contemporary elements, such as the sheet metal awning, create a sleek, simple street appeal.

H2D’s most recent project is a new custom residence in Seattle.  We have just completed the schematic design phase for the client.

Three options were presented to the client to demonstrate several different styles for options to pursue.

Building With Less Wood

Wood is one of the most prevalent materials used in our homes today.  Most homes are constructed of wood framing with wood beams, posts, and plywood sheathing.  When thinking about ways to reduce the resources that go into homes, advanced framing should be one that comes to mind.

Advanced framing is a green construction method aimed towards significantly reducing the lumber package for the project.  Advanced framing reduces the amount of lumber necessary through several methods:

• wall and floor framing at 24″ o.c. vs 16″ o.c.
  
• single top plate versus a double top plate
• headers sized for each opening vs one size fits all method which ends up in many headers being oversized
• headers not required in non-load bearing walls (confirm with your local building codes)
• larger stud bays allow for increased insulation
• a reduction in area for heat loss through thermal bridging between the conditioned area and the exterior

See an illustrated example of advanced framing.  To learn more about advanced framing or how you can incorporate sustainable materials and construction methods into your project, contact Heidi Helgeson at 206-370-4762 or at heidi@h2d-llc.com.