UPDATE (4/18/18): After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, this is it: my new website design! Woo hoo! It looks pretty darn good, if I say so myself. I still may tweak a few things as time goes by, but for now, we’re done. Welcome to my interim website. If […]
Currently, there is a lot of interest in building accessory dwellings. Accessory dwellings are smaller cottages or apartments built on a property that already has one dwelling. They are also known as back yard cottages, in-law units, granny flats, and a host of other names. In the last few years […]
Are you considering building a granny flat, in-law unit, or backyard cottage? These are all names for what governmental jurisdictions are calling Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs. There is so much interest in these small, secondary dwellings, that I am launching a new website: MyAccessoryDwelling.com to provide information about the […]
Last week, I wrote about three different kinds of sketches that architects do. I mentioned that I would share the computer drawings that the drafter created from my hand sketches. Well, here they are! These drawings are done in a computer program called Revit. Revit is a Building Information Modeling […]
I’ve had my head down, literally at the drafting table, working on the design of a couple of projects. One is a small backyard cottage for a client in Berkeley. The other is some improvements and expansions for a church in Oakland. I have been spending lots of time sketching. […]
The foundation replacement project in San Francisco that includes adding a new accessory dwelling is moving along. The contractor, MEMGC, is moving along with the staggered removal and foundation of the existing foundation. Because the building needs to remain occupied during construction we are NOT lifting the house and removing […]
You may have heard about accessory dwelling units – sometimes referred to as ADUs, Secondary dwelling units, or in-law units – and you’ve been wondering if you could build one at your property. But you don’t know where to start. Here’s what you can do: Call your local Planning or […]
I can’t recall if I’ve written about this project or not. Years ago, I did a project for these clients in this house, enclosing a carport to be a garage. That was successful. But the owners soon had to relocate for work, and the house was rented out. They’ve returned […]
This project in Danville was recently completed.The project was to build a pied a terre for the owners of the home, who would hand over the main house to their children. This would allow them to be able to help care for their grandchild and to be able to lock […]
“Gas meter locations! Be still my heart,” I hear you saying. I can just imagine you are trembling in anticipation of this gas meter location story! What excitement! Not really. Right? Well, this is the reality of construction. Sometimes it is the most plebeian of things that make life, shall […]
2017 has been a busy year. As the year wraps up, and before we head into the holidays, I thought I’d share just some of what has been going on “behind the screen” here in the studio. I wrote and published a book: Working With An Architect was published in […]
A while back I was interviewed by Emily Landes, a journalist, who was writing an article about trends in apartment design. It was an interesting to be interviewed and the subject was engaging. This month the article she was writing, “Find The Flow”, appeared in SF Apartment Magazine, the monthly […]
October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month. I hope that you have enjoyed my Architecture Month posts. Perhaps you learned something you hadn’t known before. Reflecting back on […]
October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month. October has been Architecture Month. At the very last minute, October 1st to be precise, I decided to jump into the […]
October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month. You may have noticed that I have illustrated my Archtober posts with images that would fall into two broad categories: classical […]
October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month. Le Corbusier famously said that Architecture is the masterful, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. And that […]
October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month. Historically, the way we build is determined by the technology available at the time. While technology is having some impact on […]
October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month. As I explain in my book, Working With An Architect, most buildings today are assembled, they are not constructed. The difference being […]
October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month. Materials are essential in determining the character of a place. The decision between one material or another can mean that a […]
October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month. Details, in architecture, usually refers to how the parts of the building are assembled. There are many details in a building. […]