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Archive for the ‘Design Projects’ Category

Addition Atop a Victorian Duplex

Posted in Design Projects on October 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

We added some rooms on top of the upper flat and completely upgraded the house with exterior insulation and ducted heat pump, HRV, new fibercement siding, new decks and railings…I stopped by last week and took some scouting photos for a photoshoot.

I love the way the golden sun rays turned out

Garage parapet hides the solar panels from view from the street. Addition is painted black…easy to spot.

view up the new staircase to south windows

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Treasure Island Sailing Center Changing Rooms

Posted in Design Projects, tagged arch, curved gluelam beams, process, small buildings, Treasure Island, value, volunteer, whimsy, woven on March 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

This project was completed in 2007 as a volunteer project for TISC, a community boating program on Treasure island.

They needed a place for the students to change into sailing clothing and the budget was tight.

They had these old concrete block walls and asked if I could turn them into changing rooms.

This was the concept model – 3 arches made from two redwood 2x4s glued and screwed together, crossbeams and woven sailcloth to make a roof.

Model with shade structure made from recycled sails

a little whimsical detail and I think the darker wood was salvaged from a fence at my house.

The end product allowed wheelchairs to access the roms and PVC pipe instead of wood rafters….probably to save money.

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Back of House Rearrangements

Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, chicago faucet, green, harvest, heat pump hot water heater, houses, John Mcbride, kitchen, McBride Construction, natural stone counters, process, remodel, salvaged fir, sanco2, skylight, small buildings, small houses, stone countertops, wood on March 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »

This was a very typical job here in Berkeley. So many older houses have strange, bad additions at the back of the house. Perhaps when they were built people still had garbage dumps in their backyards and had no interest in connecting their living space to the yard. These guys had a badly built 1950s era closet tacked on to the back of their kitchen that contained the laundry and a bunch of other stuff. We moved the laundry and all the storage to the middle of the house and moved the kitchen to the back, adding a dining nook and a half bath and a very small extension to the back bedroom.

This is a view from the dining room towards the laundry and kitchen. A skylight over a piece of art beckons you to walk that way.

new half bath with utility sink, reuse of the old chicago kitchen sink faucet

The owner built this nice shelving out of salvaged fir and we extended the window sill into a little shelf over the tile.

Copper induction range with a built-in battery. (Berkeley company.)

SANCO₂ heat pump hot water heater (tank inside, heatpump outside) that doubles as house heating system (Harvest System)

The owner is still finishing up details like the nook and the pantry so I will hopefully have one more update on this project.

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Recent ADU in the Hills

Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, Berkeley, Berkeley Hills, bright colors, cabinets, colors, coral green, cottage, fir, Limeplaster, small bathroom, small buildings, wildfire, wood on February 25, 2026| 2 Comments »

I am finally getting around to sharing the photos of this recent 440 SF Accessory Dwelling Unit. It is an unusual shape due to many constraints including preserving the bay views from the main house, and preserving as much garden as possible. It is also located on an active landslide and in a wildland -urban interface with strict wild fire safety provisions.

Warm sandy limeplaster walls below and painted fibercement & Boral above. Heavy timber raftertails, no roof venting

a nice window to garden with cheerful green coral trim (photo by Willa McBride)

celebrating completion (photo by Willa McBride)

Fir beam and post and guardrail with cute light (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)

compact sink with mirror and window above (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)

custom bathroom shelving & fir and copper towel bars (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)

Entry & Ships Ladder (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)

Exposed fir floorjoists and fir plywood with square LED lights (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)

small kitchen – cabinets by Andrew Franklin (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)

Living room/ Dining room view to south patio (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)

Ships ladder to loft (photo by Lenny Gonzalez)

Entry door – with architect reflected and builder inside

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Some Great Recent Work

Posted in Design Projects, tagged Accessory Dwelling Units, Berkeley, bright colors, cabinets, color, details, Emeryville, energy efficiency, framing, Limeplaster, process, skylight, small buildings on December 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

We have been busy with all sorts of great projects the last few months. Here are a few snapshots.

Mudroom Bench – Very similar to one we did 10 years ago, but customized to perfectly fit the new space: narrower on one wall than the other. The lid is solid ash and the rest is painted. I need to get some photos of the blue interior. Thanks to Kelly Best and McBride Construction for the excellent craftsmanship.

Copper induction range with battery and walnut knobs (Berkeley company!)

ADU slab..getting ready for the concrete pour

The slab was poured and beautiful saw cut control joints added. Now the structural framing is underway. The tolerances are very tight in these small living spaces. Every inch matters. I was delighted to discover that the concrete work and framing has resulted in walls that match my drawings to the 1/16 inch.

Framing Underway (Oscar of McBride Construction hard at work)

A small addition at the back of a small Berkeley house (we moved the storage, laundry and water heater to the middle and put the kitchen, dining nook, half bath, and reading nook at the back of the house by the yard. I like the deep eave over the door and windows and the pretty fir rafter tails

We added a skylight in the middle of the house…a lot of bang for the skylight buck. To right of skylight is laundry, pantry, and mechanical space and to the left is the kitchen and then the back yard.

Finally did a photoshoot at a recently finished Accessory Dwelling Unit in the Berkeley Hills. Below you will see the photographer, Lenny Gonzalez, and the photoshoot models Eowyn & John.

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All about the Southern Sunlight

Posted in Design Projects, tagged bathroom, Berkeley, botanical, houses, interior window, metal, natural light, Oak, passive solar, remodel, stairway, Vanity, winter sun on July 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This 2016 remodel recently sold. I was shocked by the selling price. The realtor was kind enough to share her photos. We remodeled the back of the house and the second floor to better connect to the yard and the south light. She also hired Shawn Lovell to build a very special staircase.

This is a photo from the upstairs bathroom and the interior window over the stairs (one shutter open.) I had thought we would put mirrors on the inside of the shutters, but owner didn’t want mirrors. This opening to the stairwell allows the bathroom to be filled with southern sunshine. Oak vanity by Aaron Larsen of Xylo Interiors. The vessel sink allows the vanity to be lower and nicer proportions.

This is a view from the kitchen to the back….showing the light-filled stairwell and the french doors to the yard

artistic shot looking down from the top of stairs

Existing first floor – view from kitchen is of the laundry

Better connection to yard and south light. Laundry tucked out of view and staircase is nice to look at. (The garage is on that side of the yard close to the house)

Second floor – you can see the opening in the bathroom over the stairs opposite the south facing window

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Very Small ADU with Redwood Barn Shakes

Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, barn shakes, Berkeley, curbless shower, redwood, small buildings, wood on June 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This ADU is 160 SF. Backyard is small and client chose not to move the ADU to 4′ setbacks and enlarge because it would make the usable yard even smaller. It was quite challenging to fit all the Accessory Dwelling Unit requirements in such a tiny space. We got the redwood shakes from Humboldt county, Doors are Blomberg and the high performance skylights have exterior shades.

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Berkeley Strawbale ADU Cottage

Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, Berkeley, clay plaster, cottage, curves, fire resistant construction, green building, light, Lime Plaster, straw, Strawbale, thick walls, tiny house on June 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This project was completed a a few years ago, but I realized I never posted any finished photos because I was waiting for the landscaping and an interior sliding screen between office and living room. I think it’s done now and I hope to stop by soon to see it.

John and I both would love to build more strawbale structures. The thick walls (In this case 24″ thick, but 18″ is common) are really great architecturally and the inside is so quiet and well insulated. It is wonderful to use a natural material that is an agricultural waste product to insulate. Lime plastered strawbale buildings are also very fire resistant.

This photo shows the builder, John McBride & the construction of the curved walls at the doors

A fun, colorful cabinet for books and entertainment system and the deep window seat to the right (needs it cushion still) You can see the finished curves at the doorway to left.

office window and desk built into the thick walls

Windows on the south side with concrete sills, golden lime plaster, and bright painted soffits I (& some AI ) added the garden in the foreground because this photo was taken before landscaping.)

Tilework (Fireclay) and skylight (some temp plumbing that doesn’t match 🙂 for the observant. Plaster in the bathroom is clay plaster because of its humidity control and air cleaning properties.

Kitchenette – If I was an interior decorator I’d add a piece of art and declutter the counter a bit and Martha Stewart the corner shelves, but this is just a snap shot) Now, in Berkeley, a bigger refrigerator is required.

This is a screenshot from the concept model showing the windowseat and office, storage hallway, & bathroom

another screenshot from the concept model

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Visit to Island Remodel Project

Posted in Design Projects, tagged British COlumbia, clean lines, color, fir, Galiano Island, green, green building, houses, Kable lighting, kitchen, lighting design, modern, paperstone, passive solar, remodel, simplify, steel, tile, wood on June 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

My client for a remodel of a 1960s house on Galiano Island invited my family up to see the almost finished house. (a few details and exterior paint not finished yet)

The location is truly spectacular and I was very happy with the improvements that we made. Improvements included: on the practical side: tightening up the exterior envelope (including new fibercement rainscreen siding, all new windows, & insulation), upgrading to an energy efficient heating system, and adding a HRV, and then rearranging the interior extensively to simplifying and improve the transitions between spaces. The lower level was majorly improved, but it was a pretty straight forward rearrangement breaking it up into more usable rooms, guest suite, familyroom, office and storage. I didn’t include those photos.

The main event is the view to the south to Active Pass and all the way to the Olympic National Park 70 miles to the south. We spent many hours enjoying the view of wildlife and boats from the covered porch.

You can see some before shots of the house here.

View of the house from the water. we simplified the roofline and deck

View from the gate – Red windows and trim on this side to give it some personality from the road. New cedar entry porch with benches was a big improvement for easy access for all. (Old one had uneven stone steps down from driveway then back up several steps to the porch.) (I & AI added the ferns to the photo in the foreground, and strangely also a fish amongst the ferns)

BC Ferry Salish Heron with Mayne Island, Prevost Island, Pender Island, and The Olympics beyond

Long south side covered porch. We eliminated the non structural posts that went to the roof and did not miss them despite my concerns that it might look odd without some posts.

kitchen transition to living and dining room – vaulted ceiling to flat ceiling. This was a tricky structural bit for the builder because he had to modify the existing trusses and I am thankful that the owners saw the value in making the transition what it should be rather than the easiest way. Kitchen counters are Paperstone – made from recycled paper and both warm to the touch and acoustically dampening.

Livingroom – My favorite detail is the steel beam supporting the wood stove shelf

looking downtown the bedroom hallway – we made it more private but kept a slot at the top of the wall to let light through. Aimable recessed light at the end illuminates a painting.

Looking past entry toward kitchen – ceiling transition and four fir posts creating an elegant transition

Interior window detail – painted wood jamb on all 4 sides.

Relocated stairs to the lower level. (Old ones were in the prime real estate between kitchen and dining room.)

Owner just sent me an updated photo of the kitchen with the tiled backsplash finished. Looks great!

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Berkeley Hills Accessory Dwelling Unit Getting Close!

Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, Berkeley, color, Lime Plaster, process, small buildings on June 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Here are a few exterior shots of the integral color plaster walls. Action shots of the plastering team at work courtesy of Michael Scott.

The tiny house with its venerable mother house adjacent

Interior and detail shots will hopefully be forthcoming, (hard to get photos in such a small space with ongoing work and protection in place) but the exterior is really looking good.

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ADU Underway Up The Hill

Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, Berkeley, eaves, housing, process, small buildings, wood, WUI on January 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The owner took these photos for me of our little ADU taking shape. In the first photo you can see our 4×6 rafter tails with a curve. These will get gyp sheathing above with non flammable (Hardiboard & Boral) material on the outside. No venting. (Roof sheathing is kept above the dewpoint with rigid insulation on top.) The lower eaves that are less visible will be enclosed completely. The last photo is john rabbeting one of the exposed fir beams for the interior.

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Corpo Kinetic Rehab & Pilates Studio

Posted in Design Projects, tagged color, Corpo Kinetic, Fitness, health, housing, infill, John Mcbride, lighting design, McBride Construction, mixed use, native plants, Oakland, Pilates, ventilation, Warmboard on November 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I have been spending some time enjoying the Pilates and Rehab studio that McBride Construction and I finished last year. At long last PGE hooked up the electricity and the mostly native plants that I helped select and install in front are growing in fast and the studio is shaping up nicely. Calscape has a tool where you can enter your address and it will give you a list of plants they consider native to that spot. This guided some of our choices.

The project involved remodeling the existing floor of the single family house into two residential units – a two bedroom in front and a one bedroom ADU in back, and adding a brand new accessible Commercial space below. (It was a dirt crawlspace)