2011 was good, but 2012 is going to be much better!

Stefan, Tim and I will be set up on the main floor (room 1).  Drop by and see us!

We’ve had a booth for eight or nine years, and it’s always a good show–lots of new products, and a chance to talk with contractors, architects, etc in a no-pressure atmosphere.

Tim Hammer

In December, Stefan and I asked Tim to become a full partner in CAST architecture.  Tim has been with us since 2006, and has done some fantastic work, including the Artalejo-Lacas, Anderson and Bookloft Residences.

Tim’s work has been influenced by his interest in traditional Japanese architecture, small space design and Urban density issues. His path has been fueled by an 18-month research scholarship to study urban housing in Japan while a graduate student. This interest has most recently manifested itself in his efforts advocating for the passage of the Seattle Backyard Cottage ordinance. He is currently engaged in the design of efficient and elegant homes and cottages in various Seattle neighborhoods.

Tim is a registered architect in the State of Washington. He received a master of Architecture from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Art and Design from Montana State University.

new kitchen opened to dining room

A new day lit stair well creates a logical circulation path between the bedroom wing of the split-level, and the public spaces of the house, creating a more fluid transition to the second floor living.  The new family room addition builds off the home’s original elemental language of brick, wood and glass, providing a deck to take in the expansive views of Lake Washington – Leveraging the house’s connection to a quintessential Seattle site.

A special thanks to the project manager Rich Denny of High Country Contractors for being a great partner on this project!

entry and new stairs

kitchen with dining room beyond

steel railing detail

main floor plan

ground floor plan

Saratoga Modern–exterior from backyard

Set in the Saratoga, California suburbs, this house is a complete reboot of a 1969 faux colonial.  We’re stripping away the historical pastiche, and focusing the design on nearly seamless indoor/outdoor living.  Wrapping the house is a stone terrace and arcade which defines a new dining space, lounge area and a series of gardens.  It screens the intense solar exposure, and reinforces the horizontal in keeping with the City’s very restrictive planning regulations.

Seamless transition from terrace dining space to new kitchen, with indirect lighting in skylight slot to wash the cabinet wall

The palette of natural materials is pretty rich, but understated, using changes in texture and shadow.  We’ll be using a light colored, hard limestone, called Fiore from Maidenstone.  We’ll use a split face texture for the arcade columns, hammered tile for the outdoor terrace, and a brushed finish for the interior tile.  The cabinetry and trim will be mostly walnut slab and panels.

The slot skylight washes the walnut cabinet wall in light. The new staircase is a fun mix of limestone, glass and steel.

More information and photos after the jump…

The arcade makes a transition space between the house and the street, with a porch and courtyard garden.

The palette is earthy and warm. Almost the whole backyard side of the house slides open.

We're opening up the interior, at the same time, created a bit of distance for a play room at the end of the house.

Street view

We’ve been investigating what the Urban Olympic project would look like as an 27 unit apartment building.  One potentially excited twist on the building is that we have split the bulk into two volumes with a 18′ wide courtyard atrium.  The atrium and circulation are exterior, so we can apply another 2000 S.F.for an extra 3 units and still come in under the FAR limit.

We also did a first run at some energy modeling, using Archicad’s EcoDesigner program, and feel that given the bulk it would be fairly straight forward to achieve the Passive House standard, but the return on investment is better if we design to the envelop to Washington State Energy Code, add solar hot water, switch the lighting to LEDs, and add an ERV.

Join us tonight at Future Shack 2011 for another evening of great dialogue about houses.  Last year I participated in the ‘Speed-Date‘—seven minutes to lay out the project and have a design brainstorm, then on to the next architect.  It was a blast, and this year Tim will be sitting in for me.

After Speed Date Design, there will be a presentation of innovative ideas in housing.

Our entry, Urban Olympic, is a nine unit townhouse complex designed to use 90% less energy that typical code compliance housing.  See our entries over the last few years : 2011, 2009

It is at Fisher Pavillion in the Seattle Center, starting at 5 pm.

A short subdivison in West Seattle is serving as the site for two prefabricated homes for a Seattle developer.

CAST worked with a modular factory in Oregon to understand the constraints involved with building, shipping, and installing factory built structures. Leveraging this knowledge we have designed a prototype house which balances the economy of modular construction with selective site built elements to gain the modulation, character, and function which stock prefabricated construction typically lacks.

By making changes to the homes orientation, location of site built portions of the structure such as awnings, eaves, parking, and decks, an extremely economical structure is tailored into a series of custom homes.

This new home was permitted under Seattle’s citywide backyard cottage ordinance (which is rapidly approaching it’s second year anniversary). The existing home, with a large corner lot and alley access, was an ideal candidate for a backyard cottage. The site allowed both the existing home and new cottage to enter from separate streets, have separate outdoor living areas and maintain a great deal of privacy from one another.

The owner desired a modestly scaled 800 square foot structure with exterior massing that followed the traditional lines of the existing home and a modern, light filled interior that opened to a private courtyard and was suitable for entertaining guests. The floor plan centers on a double height dining room with clerestory windows, sleeping loft and a large 4 panel door that frames views of the private courtyard and terraced garden. The cottage features radiant floor heating, an efficient on boiler with integrated solar hot water collection and a 1500 gallon cistern for rainwater catchment.

The homeowner served as the general contractor and invested considerable sweat equity which allowed the total project cost to come in at just under $100,000 ( ! ).

View from the dining room into the kitchen.

1,500 gallon cistern for rainwater catchment.

View from the kitchen into the dining room and living room.