The completed addition as seen from the backyard.

A Sensitive Reconstruction

A growing family dreams of spacious living and bedroom spaces to replace a cramped and sinking 1984 addition to their postwar suburban home.

DATE: 2023-2024

Tools: AUTOCAD, SKETCHUP, ENSCAPE

TEAM: Michael Kim, PROJECT ARCHITECT

ROLES: Design Assistant, BIM Lead, Modelling Lead, COnstruction Admin

Experiencing the extended effects of slow subsidence under the two-story rear addition of their 1940 Cape Cod home - owing to a high water table and poorly-performing foundation - the client endeavored to build a replacement as-of-right in the same footprint, but now with a considerably more comfortable spatial experience.

Sun study conducted for neighbors and presented to local board of zoning appeals. (2023)

The design replaced the failing slab-on-grade with a durable crawlspace foundation, allowing the ground floor to drop into a taller living room with kitchenette and powder room, while the second floor bedroom ceiling was raised to match the height of the original home’s roof. With respect to a good neighbor relationship next door, a solar study was conducted, and the profile of the second floor was stepped back to reduce shadowing and accommodate sunlight into the adjacent home’s kitchen and dining rooms.