I’ll be presenting the Sunset Substation Park to the NW Ecobuilding Guild at their annual “green building slam,” 10×10x10.

It’s “a high-energy introduction to ten cutting-edge sustainable building projects in and around Seattle…featuring fast-paced presentations by the region’s leading green builders and delicious food and drink.”

This marks our second year in a row presenting (last year, we showed off the Fremont Townhomes)!

Just a blurb, but there is more information on the Sunset Substation blog

It was great to see a solid turnout for the opening. It was so packed I couldn’t really spend time looking at the work, amongst all the starving architects jockeying for free wine, beer and food!

Kate and Ric have begun construction on their backyard cottage… They have been working hard the last few weeks and have enlisted the help of a few friends and colleagues along the way. A few key players have been helping guide us through the process:

• Rusty Borromeo of Borromeo Construction LLC is providing his general contractor and construction expertise
• James Jenkins of O’Brien & Company is contributing his green building knowledge and will be our Built Green Verifier  – we are aiming for 5 star Built Green certification
• Cory Fraser of LFD Structural Engineering LLC provided the calculations and engineering for our plan set

Ric has been doing a wonderful job of photographing the process and has put together a few galleries of the construction process thus far (all images in this post are © 2010 Ric Cochrane). He has also agreed to write up a blog post on the experience thus far – so stay tuned for that!

DECONSTRUCTION GALLERY
An existing shed (that was a bit worse for wear) was painstakingly deconstructed and all reusable and recyclable materials were sorted and stacked

LABOR OF LOVE – THE FOUNDATION
Digging in the dirt and other fun activities – the true definition of ’sweat equity!’

LUMBER FROM THE BONE-YARD
Salvaged beams, columns and decking are being purchased from Bruce Borjesson of Pacific Resources

capitol hill after

We just heard that one of our past projects is going to be featured in Seattle Homes and Lifestyles next year!  The project was a remodel of a classic victorian on Capitol Hill. The original house was well kept, but overgrown, dark with a tiny kitchen:

capitol hill kitchen: before the remodel

before the remodel: the dining room

The walls in the dining room were forest green, but you couldn’t even really tell, because of the heavy drapes, and the 15′ hedge that was gradually consuming the site.

We took down the hedge, pulled the drapes, then started cutting into the house to open up the spaces, and connect the house to the outside world.  We added an elegant back porch, perfect for grilling, using all the period details down to the last dentil.  Even though we maintained the perimeter of the existing house, by using the space better, we were able to triple the kitchen’s size, and put in built-ins to maximize every corner without altering the character of the house.

capitol hill kitchen: after

capitol hill dining room: after

new bench seat following the big bay window, with concealed storage for kids'

We’ve been selected as one of the up and coming Seattle architecture firms shaping the future of our fair city.  The exhibit will be up at AIA Seattle in July with a reception on the July 1st from 5-7 pm.

The exhibit will highlight ten or so local firms, and will be a great chance to see some fresh design thinking from around town.  The AIA hasn’t published the full list of firms included yet, but when they do, I’ll link up to their websites.