Builder for the project is is Bay Builders. Posts were carved by John McBride.



Posted in Design Projects on April 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, Found Objects, tagged green building, lanterns, lighting design, Rockridge, vine curtains on June 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I have been sorting through old photos this week and was reminded of these cool lanterns by Coe Studios used on a Rockridge project.
I also came upon this picture of vine curtains that I took in western Massachusetts a while back.
Posted in Design Projects, Information, tagged air changes, Beyond Efficiency, fresh air, green building, healthy, HEPA, HRV, low CO2, mechanical system, Oakland, pandemic design, Pilates on June 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »
We are finally getting close to completion on this North Oakland pilates studio for Corpokinetic. The ventilation system is sized to provide 5 air changes per hour when needed to keep the Co2 concentration to 400-500 ppm. It is a heat recovery system for energy efficiency and has a HEPA filtration system that can be activated if there is wild fire smoke or other pollution outside. Hopefully none of this will be needed, but seems more than likely these days. It will also minimize transmission of the ordinary cold virus in the studio. Thanks to Beyond Efficiency for mechanical design and Walter Mork & McBride Construction for installation
Plumbing inspection was also passed today. Here is John McBride testing the drain lines for leaks before the inspector arrived:
Posted in Design Projects, Information, tagged Accessory Dwelling Units, Berkeley, Electrification, green, small buildings, Strawbale, tiny houses on May 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
John McBride and I have two projects on this years tour. A strawbale accessory dwelling unit and a stick framed accessory dwelling unit. We are proud of both projects and put a lot of extra heart and soul into them. The tour is free. you just sign up HERE. I’ll be there to answer questions.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, lighting design, small buildings on August 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I went up to check out the lighting installation at the little music studio. Cable lighting can look very 80s…but sometimes it works well and allows for a very flexible solution. Exterior lights are large arts and crafts lanterns. No photo of the pathway lighting…stay tuned for a few more photos soon.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, appleply, Berkeley, kitchen, practical, small buildings on July 14, 2021| 1 Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, blacksmith, botanical, collaboration, craftswoman, details, hand forged, iron, patterns, process, stair, steel staris, whimsy on June 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I never managed to get any photos of this project….but it was a tiny addition and rearrangement of the south end of a house on two levels to better connect to the yard and maximize the south light. The centerpiece was a stair with botanical railing and thick wood treads. The blacksmith, Shawn Lovell recently gave me some progress photos that she took. Thanks Shawn! I’ll take a photo of the organic handrail she made for our place and post that next.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, Berkeley, details, green, lighting design, process, small buildings on June 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »
First here is a 3d model we built as a schematic design tool. A few things changed and not all the details are there, but you can get a sense of the overall layout.
This one was a rebuild of an existing garage. (We had to rebuild it to meet the energy standards for habitable space, but we had to keep it the same as the garage in footprint, height, and roofline. ) The owners wanted to keep it simple…and kind of traditional. We think it turned out well.
The heating is a Fujitsu minisplit, the insulation is beyond code including slab edge insulation, lighting is all LED, high efficacy, & high CRI. A spot HRV keeps the air fresh even when the owners are out of town.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, green building, process, small buildings, Strawbale on May 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I’ll just share the McBride Construction Photos of the sandy colored concrete sills on the strawbale:
www.instagram.com/p/COfuDyWH_s_/
Posted in Design Projects, tagged construction process, hemfir on April 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »