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, copper, fasteners, lighting design, McBride Construction, metal, music studio, rooflet, small buildings on August 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »
This was a remodel and tune-up of an existing music studio and adjacent decks and stairs
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 »
It turned out nicely. I’d like to have a drying rack/dish storage hanging over my drainboard sink too.
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 Berkeley, small buildings, stairs, storage on April 19, 2021| 1 Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, curves, process, small buildings, Strawbale on April 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »
The builder (John McBride) sent these photos of the interior plaster, the deep windows, and the interior all cleaned up, ready for plastering.
Posted in Design Projects, Information, tagged green building, Limeplaster, process, small buildings, Strawbale on April 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Hydraulic lime plaster is similar to cement stucco, but with lime rather than portland cement. It is more flexible and more vapor permeable than cement stucco, but it takes more skill and curing time. It also requires warmer temperatures. While making portland cement requires a lot of energy and the chemical reaction releases large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, Manufacturing lime takes energy, but when lime plaster carbonates (hardens) much of the CO2 released during the manufacture is reabsorbed. (From Essential Natural Plasters, Henry & Therrien) According to Strawbale Building Details (Published by CASBA – California Strawbale Building Association)The strawbales themselves sequester 26 pounds of carbon each, preventing the formation of 95 pounds of CO2)
Posted in Design Projects, tagged ADU, Berkeley, green building, insulation, process, small buildings, Strawbale on March 29, 2021| 1 Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, green building, small buildings, Straw Bale on January 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged ADU, Berkeley, carved post, cottage, painted beam, small buildings on January 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »
We converted the front house from a duplex to single family, then added an ADU at the back. So many fun details on this project I don’t know where to start.
First, Here is the new ADU. The landscape work is underway, so stay tuned. Note the castle post from previous blogposts.
Here are three of the kitchen
deedsdesign 