Lakeside Terrace Level Fireplace

2009 ASID Showcase House Award Winning Mid-Century Modern Interpretation

The winning entry of the Dwell Home Design Invitational is situated on a hilly site in North Carolina among seven wooded acres. The home takes full advantage of it’s natural surroundings: bringing in the woodland views and natural light through plentiful windows, generously sized decks off the front and rear facades, and a roof deck with an outdoor fireplace. With 2,400 sf divided among five prefabricated modules, the home offers compact and efficient quarters made up of large open living spaces and cozy private enclaves. To meet the necessity of creating a livable floor plan and a well-orchestrated flow of space, the ground floor is an open plan module containing a living room, dining area, and a kitchen that can be entirely open to the outside or enclosed by a curtain. Sensitive to the clients’ desire for more defined communal/private spaces, the private spaces are more compartmentalized making up the second floor of the home. The master bedroom at one end of the volume looks out onto a grove of trees, and two bathrooms and a guest/office run along the same axis. The design of the home responds specifically to the location and immediate surroundings in terms of solar orientation and footprint, therefore maximizing the microclimate. The construction process also leveraged the efficiency of wood-frame modulars, where approximately 80% of the house was built in a factory. By utilizing the opportunities available for off-site construction, the time required of crews on-site was significantly diminished, minimizing the environmental impact on the local ecosystem, the waste that is typically deposited on or near the site, and the transport of crews and materials. The Dwell Home has become a precedent in demonstrating the superiority of prefabricated building technology over site-built homes in terms of environmental factors, quality and efficiency of building, and the cost and speed of construction and design. Architects: Joseph Tanney, Robert Luntz Project Architect: Michael MacDonald Project Team: Shawn Brown, Craig Kim, Jeff Straesser, Jerome Engelking, Catarina Ferreira Manufacturer: Carolina Building Solutions Contractor: Mount Vernon Homes Photographer: © Jerry Markatos, © Roger Davies, © Wes Milholen

Great Room

Beautiful crown molding added to a bedroom feature wall.

This sixth floor penthouse overlooks the city lakes, the Uptown retail district and the city skyline beyond. Designed for a young professional, the space is shaped by distinguishing the private and public realms through sculptural spatial gestures. Upon entry, a curved wall of white marble dust plaster pulls one into the space and delineates the boundary of the private master suite. The master bedroom space is screened from the entry by a translucent glass wall layered with a perforated veil creating optical dynamics and movement. This functions to privatize the master suite, while still allowing light to filter through the space to the entry. Suspended cabinet elements of Australian Walnut float opposite the curved white wall and Walnut floors lead one into the living room and kitchen spaces. A custom perforated stainless steel shroud surrounds a spiral stair that leads to a roof deck and garden space above, creating a daylit lantern within the center of the space. The concept for the stair began with the metaphor of water as a connection to the chain of city lakes. An image of water was abstracted into a series of pixels that were translated into a series of varying perforations, creating a dynamic pattern cut out of curved stainless steel panels. The result creates a sensory exciting path of movement and light, allowing the user to move up and down through dramatic shadow patterns that change with the position of the sun, transforming the light within the space. The kitchen is composed of Cherry and translucent glass cabinets with stainless steel shelves and countertops creating a progressive, modern backdrop to the interior edge of the living space. The powder room draws light through translucent glass, nestled behind the kitchen. Lines of light within, and suspended from the ceiling extend through the space toward the glass perimeter, defining a graphic counterpoint to the natural light from the perimeter full height glass. Within the master suite a freestanding Burlington stone bathroom mass creates solidity and privacy while separating the bedroom area from the bath and dressing spaces. The curved wall creates a walk-in dressing space as a fine boutique within the suite. The suspended screen acts as art within the master bedroom while filtering the light from the full height windows which open to the city beyond. The guest suite and office is located behind the pale blue wall of the kitchen through a sliding translucent glass panel. Natural light reaches the interior spaces of the dressing room and bath over partial height walls and clerestory glass.

© Jacob Termansen Photography

No that's not a bicycle in the living room. You're seeing the sweat room off the living room separated by butt-glazed glass. This wall of glass allows the rider to enjoy the view through the living room and out to the pool as they train for hours at a time. A wall of Knoll fabric curtain can by pulled shut to close off the sweat room when not in use. Skylights are sprinkled across the ceiling to allow light to play across the flooring. Photo by Paul Bardagjy

Heather R B Washburn

Casey Dunn

Halkin Photography, LLC

Photo: Mariko Reed Photography

The layout of the master bathroom was created to be perfectly symmetrical which allowed us to incorporate his and hers areas within the same space. The bathtub crates a focal point seen from the hallway through custom designed louvered double door and the shower seen through the glass towards the back of the bathroom enhances the size of the space. Wet areas of the floor are finished in honed marble tiles and the entire floor was treated with any slip solution to ensure safety of the homeowners. The white marble background give the bathroom a light and feminine backdrop for the contrasting dark millwork adding energy to the space and giving it a complimentary masculine presence. Storage is maximized by incorporating the two tall wood towers on either side of each vanity – it provides ample space needed in the bathroom and it is only 12” deep which allows you to find things easier that in traditional 24” deep cabinetry. Manmade quartz countertops are a functional and smart choice for white counters, especially on the make-up vanity. Vanities are cantilevered over the floor finished in natural white marble with soft organic pattern allow for full appreciation of the beauty of nature. This home has a lot of inside/outside references, and even in this bathroom, the large window located inside the steam shower uses electrochromic glass (“smart” glass) which changes from clear to opaque at the push of a button. It is a simple, convenient, and totally functional solution in a bathroom. The center of this bathroom is a freestanding tub identifying his and hers side and it is set in front of full height clear glass shower enclosure allowing the beauty of stone to continue uninterrupted onto the shower walls. Photography: Craig Denis

Mariela Apollonio

Living Room