I think the image says it all.  Here is a link for full details:

East Austin Studio Tour 2008

For more info, Austinist has done a series of posts this week about artists on the tour.

I’m excited to see my friend Kollin Baker on the tour.  Kollin is an amazing craftsman who specializes in concrete.  His ceramic work is very cool.  We have hired him to stain our floors and for concrete countertops, and have never been disappointed.  Check out Kollin’s site here:  Absolute Concrete

Hybrid homes become a selling tool

First came the push for fuel-efficient cars. Are fuel-efficient houses next?

As builders look for ways to move homes in a lousy market, they’re increasingly taking their cue from carmakers and turning toward energy efficiency as a selling tool…

Several Austin projects are mentioned (in addition to other areas).  A referenced study suggests that builders feel that ‘green’ homes are easier to market.  I’ve talked to a few Austin builders who agree with this sentiment.  The bottom line – the market is driving builders to implement energy efficient features.  See the full article here: Austin American Statesman – Hybrid homes become a selling tool

The other article (from the Wall Street Journal) talks about the growing popularity of “Design-Build” firms.  Rather than hiring Architect A for design and Builder B for construction – more firms are offering both services.  Here is a snippet:

When the architect is also the contractor

… This architect-as-contractor model, called design-build, had already been gaining new traction at the highest echelons of the housing market, as clients seek ways to execute cutting-edge designs without the headaches often associated with such construction. Membership in the American Institute of Architects’ design-build community has nearly tripled over the past five years, and teachers at several architecture programs across the Midwest report that enrollment in design-build classes has doubled…

Here is a link to the full text – definitely worth a read: Austin American Statesman – When the architect is also the contractor.  The article does a great job of covering the benefits to the client and the firm – as well as several examples.  I had no idea the AIA banned this practice until 1979!  As far as this trend – Austin has our share of great design-build firms like Cottam-Hargrave, KRDB, Clayton-Levy-Little have built amazing projects around town.

In the meantime – here’s a fun event for tomorrow night:

The event is Thursday, November 6th, at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden. Doors open at 7pm and admission is $5 to non-members.

Mell Lawrence has a lot of great work in and around town.  It should be an excellent presentation and I believe the last of the season, so don’t miss out!

Of course I really liked my friend Nana’s house.  It feels very warm and comfortable, I love the colors and materials, and the way the home wraps the beautiful oak tree.  Checkout Nana’s website http://www.9squarestudio.com.  Here are a few photos:

I also really enjoyed the ClaytonLevyLittle project near Lake Austin.  It was a very impressive remodel that opened the home to the lake view while providing a lot of neat spaces.  I really liked the large open kitchen and upstairs office/sitting area.  Unfortunately there aren’t too many images of this home.  Here is the one from the program:

Others I liked (in brief) – The Studio Robins Dempsey home was a cool urban retreat – lots of high windows and a great interior courtyard.  The AlterStudio remodel was a nice combination of the original home’s facade and a very modern addition.  The Hugh Jefferson Randolph project had a lot of neat details and materials – I really liked the landscaping as well.

Of course, I liked a lot about most of the homes on the tour.  I could go on… But what did you think?  Which were your favorite designs and details?  Share in the comments!

Here are some photos from the listing agent:

Here is a link with full details: 5301 McCandless - $349,000

Listing Courtesy of Joe Bryson

As the name suggests, it sits on a hillside with an amazing view of downtown between the surrounding hills. You can see from the Aerial photo below that the home is built to capture this view.

See you on the tour!

If you’re touring on Saturday, I’ll be working as a docent from 3-6pm at the West Annie house. It’s an amazing home by 9 Square Studio.

Stop upstairs and say hello if you have a moment.

If you end your day in South Austin, here’s another fun event to check out tomorrow:

South First Art Walk

Copyright © 2008 InspiredAustin. This feed is for personal non-commercial use only.

Here’s a nice pre-AIA tour event to get you ready for the weekend – Architecture at the Umlauf is back for the fall:

The event is Wednesday, October 1st, at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden. Doors open at 7pm and admission is $5 to non-members.

Michael Hsu Design Office has done a lot of amazing work around Austin – many of my favorite stores and restaurants as well as the 04 Lofts.  He also designed the Austin Real World house – I wonder how MTV was as a client…

Hat tip to Melanie for the reminder

Click here to Search for Modern Homes in Austin, TX or if you like, just browse new modern listings.

Google’s creation of the 3d Warehouse, which made models easily shareable and searchable, magnified the utility.  For example, when pondering appliance options, we were able to find Sketchup models and see how they would look in our kitchen in a matter of moments.

For Sketchup tutorials, see links here – Design your Dwelling Competition.

However, many people don’t realize that the functionality of Sketchup is extendable.  Like Firefox, users can install plugin’s to add completely new capabilities.  One fun example is Sketchy Physics, which adds a configurable physics engine:

IES Sketchup Plugin

Now for a more on-topic plugin – the IES Sketchup Plugin “Enables Environmental Performance Analysis directly from SketchUp Model”.

It allows empowering energy, carbon, daylight and solar analysis, and much more to be undertaken at the touch of a few buttons, right from the earliest stages of the design process, where the maximal difference to sustainable design can be achieved.

Share in the comments if you have an interesting use for Sketchup and/or you’ve tried out this plugin.

via Inhabitat

It’s that time of year again – mark your calendars for the Austin AIA Homes Tour.  It’s going to be great!  Here’s the summary from the AIA Austin website:

Here’s something important to know:  "Design Matters!"

Whether it’s your home, the school your children attend, the office where you work, the stores where you shop, or the city you live in - how that space makes you feel, how it looks, how it functions - are controlled in large part by the way it is designed.  And, we all deserve good design.

The tour will be held on October 4-5 from noon-6pm.  Here is the link with full details and a link to purchase tickets – AIA Homes Tour 2008.  Hopefully I’ll see some of you at the pre-party as well.

Usually at this point I post a Google Map of the homes on the tour, however the addresses aren’t up on the AIA website yet.  In the meantime, here’s a snapshot of their thumbnails:

It looks like another impressive lineup.  I can vouch for the 9 Square Studio home and the Alterstudio design – both very cool.  I can’t wait!  Get your tickets here: AIA Homes Tour 2008

With our remodel design in hand (see previous post - Designing our Central Austin Remodel), we were ready to begin the search for a builder.  This was probably my least favorite step in the process, and yet probably the most important step in ensuring the success of our project.

As with Our Central Austin Home Search, we first thought about the characteristics we were looking for in a builder to make sure we were efficient in our search.  Here is our list (in no particular order):

• Affordable and available in our timeframe
• Good references and relevant experience
• Experience remodeling older homes
• Detail oriented
• Creative problem solver
• Open to trying new technology
• Interest/experience with efficient (green) building
• Experience with/interest in modern design
• Understands architectural vision and can interpret details
• Interested in/excited about our project
• Fun to work with

Most of these are fairly obvious, and some not entirely critical.  We were hoping to find a builder with an interest in modern design, but this was not a deal breaker.  It was more important that we were confident in their ability to execute the architect’s vision on time and on budget.  Of course we had to be able to tolerate spending a lot of time together as well.

In generating our list of potential builders we tried to stick with those who came recommended by friends and neighbors.  We ended up with about 6 solid options based on this input.  The first three were eliminated quickly based on availability and one firm who only builds their own designs.

The Low Point in the Builder Search

We were a little discouraged at this point, but we pressed on to the remaining three.  We finally got a meeting with the first of these, who we’ll call Builder A.  Builder A does a lot of work in Central Austin and therefore has a lot of experience in remodeling older homes.  We had seen their work on a home tour and were generally impressed with the quality.

Of course we were very nervous for the meeting, as this would be the time that a real dollar amount would be assigned to the project.  During the meeting Builder A reviewed our drawings, asking questions about how we would like certain details finished out.  After about an hour we left, Builder A promising to send us an estimate by the end of the week. 

After two weeks and no word from Builder A, we were a bit discouraged - strike four.  When we finally received a voicemail from the builder’s assistant a few days later he gave us a very high rough estimate (1 significant digit, about twice what we expected).  Clearly they weren’t interested in the project, which is fine.  However, the high number certainly didn’t help our morale.

Close but no cigar

For our 5th try, we spoke with a builder that came highly recommended by a good friend.  Nana Kim designed and built her own house in South Austin.  The design is very well done and the builder did a great job in executing the details.  If you’d like to see this home in person, be sure to buy your 2008 AIA Tour Ticket.  Here is a sneak peek of Nana’s front door (I love the wood):

So we met with her builder, Larry Anderson.

Larry was extremely helpful, taking the time to talk us through the costs of various aspects of our project.  He has done several similar remodel/addition projects and had a lot of data at hand, which was helpful to give us a rough cost estimate.  This was much more detailed than the single number we received from Builder A, and much more in line with our expectations.

Unfortunately Larry was in very high demand, and booked for the next 12 months!  So back to the drawing board…

One last try

We had one more builder that came highly recommended from an acquaintance.  We also had a favorable impression of their work based on their entry on a previous Green Homes tour.  However, this builder was a bit different – it would require my wife and I to manage the project.

We met with Mark Pritchard of UBuildIt several times to discuss our project.  He was very helpful and gave us a fairly detailed cost estimate, which was inline with our expectations.  However, in the end my wife and I decided that we wouldn’t be able to dedicate the time required to manage the project at the level we wanted as we both work full time.  What now?

Modern Design Build to the rescue

At this point I was frustrated and telling any friend who would listen about my fruitless search for a builder.  One of these friends decided that he could do something about it.

Modern Design Build is a small company in West Austin that does a lot of very high end projects.  They don’t really advertise, staying busy based only on referrals.  Their reputation for stunning design, flawless construction and excellent customer service precedes them. 

They are outstanding with details, here is an example.  Have you ever seen jobsite sign like this:

However, Modern DB mainly works in West Austin (West of Mopac, to Lakeway and beyond), and on much larger projects than my remodel.  They focus on pools, landscaping, and outbuildings but have experience in residential construction. 

But I had two things working for me – I have known the owner of the company for many years and he has always been interested in efficient (green) design and construction; and they had an opening in their calendar that matched my schedule.  Woo hoo!

So Modern DB superintendent Michael Dickson took on our project.  We were very fortunate here as Michael has significant experience working with many architects and builders in Austin.  He grew up doing cabinet and trim work on high end homes around town and went on to build several homes in West Austin.

Michael reviewed our plans quickly and noted many details that my wife and I hadn’t even noticed.  He discussed several implementation details with our architect on the spot.  We could tell that he was very interested and excited about the project, it was both impressive and encouraging.

A few days later Michael gave us detailed bid and rough schedule.  We met a few more times to iron out details, but there was really no question.  Michael and Modern DB were by far the best fit for us.  They completely understand the design vision of our project and they produce an extremely high quality product.  Michael is great to work with and made many suggestions to help us get the most for our money.  Here he is in deep thought:

Needless to say, we are extremely satisfied with Michael and Modern Design Build (we are about 3/4 through the project – I’m way behind on blogging!).  I would highly recommend Modern DB to anyone considering a remodel, a new home, or a pool.  They are of the highest integrity and I couldn’t be happier with our house thus far.