Radical yet respectful

Renovation by Forward Design | Architecture

From the renovating architect:

This project is a historic renovation and addition to a mid century modern home. 

The house was originally designed by the Kansas City firm of Kivett and Meyers in 1957. 

Multiple additions over the years had modified the original structure in unfortunate ways. 

It was the priority of the project to bring back the clarity of the original design, while updating it to meet twenty first century needs.

The existing structure is a stepped split level moving downhill . 

There are five levels to the structure – working from highest to lowest. 

The design for the house reconfigures the bedroom floor to have three bedrooms and two baths from what was essentially a one-bedroom U-shaped room.

On the entry level, a sunroom and new front door has been added to the front of the house. 

This space is five steps in elevation higher than the original entry. 

This addition was reworked to better match the original design of the home. 

The original front door on the lower level was removed and reworked into the existing wood panel room to make it appear as if this entry addition had always been there.  

In the sitting room a small barnacle-like bar was removed and the window wall to the street was completely rebuilt and refined from the original intent. 

The existing built-in seating and storage were restored while a new large window has been added to provide views to the site.

The main living space is on the lower level and due to previous additions felt like a basement, with a centred column and dropped beams at the original footprint of the house. 

The kitchen had been small and closed off from the remainder of the living spaces. 

The reconfigured floor takes advantage of views to the rear yard while cleaning up the additions. 

The lowered beams that were the previous exterior wall of the house were upturned into the floor package, and the centre column was shifted off centre to define the new kitchen which runs north--south on the west side of the plan.  

The kitchen is treated like mid century furniture with the exception of the appliance wall and pantries.

 The living area and dining area occupy the east side of the plan while the original fireplace and stair have been restored.

A 91cm by 71cm addition has been added to unify the rear elevation of the house and provide a contemporary wall of glass to the wooded rear yard. 

On the kitchen side of this addition is access to a small service patio with an outdoor kitchen. 

The east side of the addition provides access to a raised deck and trellis pavilion with outdoor entertaining space. 

This deck and its screen wall was developed to provide privacy to the new wall of glass. 

It is positioned to not obscure the views from the living room, but to define the edge of the rear yard.

Thoughtful interventions combined with a sensitivity for the original structure allowed for the home to appear as if it has only one addition to the rear that is clearly expressed as such, meeting the Secretary of the Interiors standards for work with Historic Structures. 

The entire project looked to work within the vocabulary of the original home, updating it to 21st century standards while maintaining the historic fabric intact.

Story by: Trendsideas