LoftyWords

Let the Sun Shine In

One of the staples of modern living, especially loft living is an open, bright feeling.  This can often be difficult to achieve, but a new twist on an old eyesore is putting natural light within reach.  Glass garage doors used, not just in the garage but as a wall, floods any space with light and allows and flow from indoors to out with ease.

A clear glass door opening to an enclosed courtyard, complete with a fountain or koi pond would be the perfect finishing touch to any modern home striving to create a peaceful, inviting environment.  If a little more privacy is in order the glass panels can be frosted, or even come with texture.  There are many styles offered by numerous dealers.  Prices vary depending on size and style so get a few price quotes and testimonials to make sure you are getting the best deal. 

Here are a few places to find out more info but remember your mileage may vary :
BP Glass Garage Doors
Arm-r-Lite
Clopay

Continuing coverage from the 2006 AIA Homes TourEmily Little, Architect!

With the pending arrival of our newest and smallest family member my demands in the home have changed. Now not only do I want a stylish, elegant space, I also demand that space to actually function for living. Yes, I know this is a novel concept that flies in the face of many but when I envision the pitter patter of little feet I also see, spills, falls and toys everywhere. This years Austin AIA show shined a spot light on one architect who has managed to create a home that is not only aesthetically pleasing with a casual elegance but she also made the home a welcoming family friendly environment.

Emily Little’s renovation of a duplex into a single family home was complicated but...

AIA Austin 2006 Homes Tour

This weekend, AIA Austin will hold its 21st annual Home Tour. The tour will include ten one of a kind homes designed for the real world and real world clients.

From the AIA Austin website, "Presented by AIA Austin (the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects), this year’s tour will feature an intriguing collection of 10 one-of-a-kind homes designed by professional members of AIA Austin for real clients representing a wide range of lifestyles. The featured firms have truly demonstrated the abilities of an architect to translate the needs, the lifestyles, interests and the dreams of the client into a beautiful solution!

Austin Agave Update

It looks like there is a lot of movement in Austin over at the new Agave neighborhood, with quite a few houses that have either sold or are in the process of selling.  Also the Green Mango Real Estate website has a number of the home plans available to peruse.

Austin - New Mod Downtown Loft For Lease

1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, with dedicated office and covered parking available for immediate move-in, located in downtown Austin!

This is the perfect place for an active professional, close to the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail, less than a mile from 6th and Congress, and under a minute comute to downtown, this almost 1300 foot loft is located in the very cool Pedernales community (www.pedernales.com).

Features and amenities:

*Beautifully stained concrete floors

*Large balcony (approx. 22'x7')

*1 bedroom

*1.5 baths

*Walk-in closet

*Huge live in Living Room

*Modern kitchen

*Stainless steel appliances

*Granite Countertops Throughout

*High ceilings

*New washer, dryer, fridge, oven, and microwave

*Covered parking

*Secure, Gated complex

*Beautiful green-space

*High speed internet available

The Pedernales offers the rare combination of urban living with private community greenspaces.  Offered at $1500 a month, plus one months deposit, the unit is available for immediate move in after April 20th, 2006.  Cats and dogs are welcome, and the unit has a large greenspace located behind it, perfect for Rovers afternoon romp.

[Click to view Craig's List listing]
[Local Contact Information]

More Pictures after the jump!

Editorial: What loft designers and architects get wrong

For a while now I have been writing on all things cool about loft and urban living, but often I get asked if it is so great why doesn't everyone do it? And the proponents of that questions are on to something, because in truth, there are a few things about loft living that are hard to get used to, and some things that urban loft designer just get wrong. Here are my basic two complaints that either need to change when designing loft spaces, or that architects and designer just get wrong, and they mirror the number one complaint from LoftyWords readers.

Agave! East Austin ModernArchitect Designed Homes.

Agave, a new concept in neighborhood developments, is going up in East Austin today.

The concept, though simple, has been a tough idea to pull off in reality.  Essentially, it is a traditional subdivision with homes designed by some of the best architects specifically for the lots they will inhabit.  With 129 lots to be developed by 7 architects, Agave itself is phase three of Sendero Hills, phase one supplied low income housing by moving and refurbishing antique barracks from the recently converted Bergstrom Air Force Base, and selling them at reasonable prices to families at or below 80 percent of the Austin Area Median Family Income.  Phase two resembled a traditional tracked development, with low to middle income houses.  Phase three, or Agave, is an adventure to sell upscale housing to middle class individuals. 

Houses will range in price from $160,000 to $260,000.  Each home will be custom designed to the lot by one of the following six architects: ...

Q & A with Ignacio Salas-Humara

Following is a Q & A I had via email, with Ignacio Salas-Humara, the architect who designed the AIA featured house Cielito Lindo. Ignacio’s responses are candid and insightful, as well as useful for those of us looking to use an architect.

Q:
A quick Google search shows the Boerne house is for sale?

A:
Yes Cielito Lindo is for sale. The client wants to do another house with me. She says it's a creative outlet for her. She really enjoyed the design-build-decorate process of Cielito Lindo (we really did have a lot of fun collaborating, and she had fun furnishing it and playing with the colors), and she wants to do it again, this time in a one-story. Her two daughters are leaving the nest soon to go off to college, and she wants a smaller, one-story house.

Q:
Looking through your portfolio, it appears that each consecutive house is getting a bit more modern. Is this a result of clients becoming more comfortable with modern design in a rural setting, or is this a function of you the architect pushing for that medium, or a combination of both?

A:
I'm a modernist at heart. That was my training at...

AIA Tour, San AntonioPoteet Architects and FAB Architecture's Capps Loft project

LoftyWords.com’s dedication to loft spaces and urban living continues this week with part two of coverage of the AIA Fall Home Tours in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. Today we visit the Poteet Architects and FAB Architecture's Capps Loft project.

Located in the King William District, the district itself is a discussion of contrasts; the streets are lined with turn of the century houses shrouded in old growth trees, allowing the charm and grace to peek through from the boughs: yet within this neighborhood stands a growing number of modern homes and urban reclamation projects. Originally, an industrial warehouse complex, the Capps Loft is one of a number of loft homes renovated from the dust of yesterday.

Upon first entering Poteet Architects and FAB Architectures Capps Loft, you are struck by the complete floor to ceiling coverage of white. Originally intended to be muted tones, the monochromatic interior was left as is, after Jim Poteet viewed the loft while being primed. Jim and Pat decided that leaving the interior a minimalist white to showcased the owner’s collection of contemporary artwork as the main visual effect of the loft. After adjusting to your surroundings, the second item you notice is the floating staircase leading skyward via a working mezzanine office suspended above the first floor entertaining area.

Ascending the stairs, you enter a second living area, guest suite, and connecting master suite. The roomy guest room and bath, though simply an alcove with custom built-ins is cleverly utilized as entertaining space until the glazed glass pivot doors close to create an intimate space for visitors. The minimalist master wing is located adjacent the third floor living room and guest space, running the entire length of the loft, with ample space to relax after a trying day. The centrally located master bedroom itself is flanked on either side by a cavernous closet and the oversize master bath and shower.

Taken in parts the house is a study in emotion and snippets of contrast, as small anterooms are colored to create different environments from the main lofts white wash theme. The graciously flowing floor plan is at comfortable odds with the monochrome effect of the loft; simply put it just feels good. After viewing two weeks of AIA homes in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, I felt most at home here… but I must admit bias, I do publish LoftyWords for a reason… I live in a loft myself..

To Jim Poteet at Poteet Architects and Pat Ousey at FAB Architecture, I commend you on a brilliant mastery of space, color and flow; it was plainly evident in the Capps Lofts thoughtful, yet minimalist modern design.

AIA San AntonioIgnacio Salas-Humara, Cielito Lindo HousePoteet Architects/FAB Architecture's Capps Loft

LoftyWords.com is dedicated to Loft Spaces and Urban Living, but from time to time, you come across a rural/suburban home so noteworthy that you feel a moral imperative to share it with the rest of the world. Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the AIA Home Tour in San Antonio, Texas, where I viewed two such noteworthy projects from three impressive architects. The first, by Ignacio Salas-Humara, from Lopez/Salas Architects, Cielito Lindo House, and the second from Poteet Architects/FAB Architecture's Capps Loft project . The following are my impressions of Ignacio Salas-Humara's Cielito Lindo House.

Ignacio Salas-Humara is one of the most talented, nationally recognized, architects working in Central Texas. This week I had the pleasure of viewing his most recent work in Boerne, Texas, the Cielito Lindo House.

Driving up to the multiacre hill country house, you get a sense of his wonderful use of color as the pumpkins and purples of the house compliment and harmonize with the scrubby Texas hill-country in autumn. Ignacio's simple yet playful take is a central cube, pinned by a cylinder projecting, off-center, from the top of the house. This playfulness continues throughout the house, teasing you to expect cubes or common square rooms within, yet he has turned the axis of the interior of the house, so that each room only has one 90° angled wall on the exterior corners.

Upon entering the house, you focus on a small central hallway that visually impresses as it opens to a central turret housing the dining room, and further on the right to an expansive living room that somehow still feels warm and comfortable. His use of the cylinder or turret in the center of the house allows not only the dining room on the first floor, but also a large home office and library on the second floor adjacent to the master bedroom. The hallway splitting the second story runs directly above the first floor hallway, and focuses ones complete attention out and down the gallery, outside across 40 feet of piered deck, ending in a small second story guest room overlooking the icy blue pool framed in the warm and dusty Central Texas Hill Country.

Ignacio, bravo! To another Great House!

To view the work of Lopez/Salas Architects click over to www.lopezsalas.com, or click below to view more pictures of Cielito Lindo House.