Dexter, Michigan (2019) (unbuilt project)
Project Size: 700 SF
This residential addition project is situated in a pleasant land of pine trees. With the surrounding quiet and natural environment, the couple loves sharing their house and landscape with their friends and other local animals like birds and deer. Reaching their retirement age, they desire to stay at this place for the rest of their lives. This project looks into a single-floor living arrangement to maximize accessibility and embrace the land of beautiful woods.
As the couple wants to keep their existing living room and screen porch for entertainment, the project proposes a master suite addition to the existing house. Moving the master bedroom from the second floor to the ground floor, and the laundry from the basement to the ground floor, offers a chance to rethink their experience from entering the house, to the new mudroom, to a master bedroom with transparent views to the landscape, a walk-thru closet and finally the master bathroom. Each of the experiences is not only functional but also captures the environment by carefully placing the window apertures and designing the daylight. This arrangement also frees the upper level for guests and a future caretaker residence.
A stone cladding is chosen for the exterior wall of the addition facing the driveway as a reference to the stacked stone walls throughout the surrounding landscape. The natural rusticated texture leads people walking to the entrance with a calming effect, delaying the immediate view to the land of trees until entering the house. The interior of the house uses birch wood cabinetry in contrast to the red wood of the existing house, creating a lighter tone and a refreshing experience in the entrance and bedroom.
This project was completed in collaboration with:
Kasey Vliet - Principal in Charge
Elpis Wong - Design
Pre-Construction Team: In Parallel Architects + Builders, LLC (general contractor), Metal One Mechanical, Dan Del Zappo Electric, Chelsea Plumbing
