Green and Efficient Renovation, in Mpls and St. Paul » Architect

Landscape Design with Salvaged Stone

Stephen — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:21:10 +0000

The use of salvaged stone and salvaged building materials is becoming a great way to be green and save money on your renovation and landscape projects while adding tons of character. Our office is known with the local quarries and stone yards for scouring the back of their lots for salvaged, special order materials that have been returned, or what they would consider left over scraps and incorporating these one of kind materials in our design process early on. Actually letting these pieces inform the design in a big way. This keeps every project fresh and will in turn create a unique built project that is easy on the environment since we haven’t promoted any new quarrying since it was rescued during the demolition of another project or simply left over and left to grow moss or lichens on the surface.

Custom Rustic Stone Wall Designed by Landscape Architecture, Inc.

With respect the Desnoyer home renovation in St. Paul we are looking to put the creative touches of salvaged stone on a design feature as simple as an egress window. First of all with any window well maximizing light into the window is always critical. Thus, we want to specify a stone wall material that is generally lighter in color. Secondly, we would like to have a stepped design to not only allow for additional light but also create a code compliant means for escape if needed. Incorporating these design principles on this project is especially a hit since the window is facing south and there is also a large shade tree in the front yard creating some dappled shade in the summer and full sun during the winter months. With these parameters in place we recently stumbled into some gorgeous salvaged sandstone that we are really excited about incorporating for this design element. This stone material that is pictured was reclaimed as part of a local demolition project for reuse by folks like us. The sandstone was originally quarried in north central Minnesota for bridge abutments most likely more than 100 years ago. In addition to the striking character and rustic staining, this is a perfect color mix for this home renovation project. We hope to incorporate this green and creative feature within the next week so I will update the blog with process and finish photos soon.

Recycled / Salvaged Sandstone

Stephen Mastey, ASLA, CLARB, LEED AP
Landscape Architecture, Inc.
856 Raymond Avenue, Suite C
St. Paul, MN 55114
651.646.1020 office
651.246.1151 mobile
www.landarcinc.com

Great architectural advice

Meshach — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:05:45 +0000

Once again Phillip, the architect from Architron, saves the day. I needed to figure out what I want to do in a few months time with some windows. In a few short minutes he was able to advise me on my options and give me renewed insight into the lay of the land and how I want to use the space. A good architect is Cyrano Debergarac whispering in your ear. Well, maybe not that, but I guess my point is that a great architect helps you find the solutions that are already in yourself, that reflect your vision, likes and lifestyle needs. They do this through working with you, working with your ideas and helping you visualize your options. It’s hard to explain, but it is something that is pretty amazing. Something that I could never do without the right help. Thanks, Phillip!

Renovation decisions

Meshach — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:32:38 +0000

In going through this process, I am amazed at the difficulty of making decisions on floorplans and architectural details based on lines on paper. I think the thing that really gets me is the finality of those decisions. Give me the digital world and I can make decisions in a heartbeat, and stick to them. Give me a choice on a placement of a physical wall and I go blank.

I’m very glad I have such a good team to work with and to help me work through these crippling decisions. Phillip Broussard, the St Paul based architect from Architron, is (and I’ve said this before, so forgive me) a saint. He has such an amazing way pf presenting options and discussing them, from so many angles. Things like, how sight-lines will be effected, traffic patterns, efficiency and green (environmental) impacts, etc… There are so many factors to any decision, you will do well to find yourself a top-notch architect like Architron. Don’t take chances here, and don’t skimp!

Now I can’t just stop here because my builder, Jason Stinson, from Minneapolis’ Stinson Builders, Inc., has been a lifeline and a great construction consiglieri. He has such an easy way about him and has been a great resource on design and layout as well as environmental building and renovating on a budget. He always gives me a easy to understand and well-thought out perspective. I can’t say enough about his support and design and building talents.

Anyway, I guess the gist of this post is to make sure you have a great architect and builder (general contractor) for your renovation project, as you will use them, and never underestimate the difficulty in making renovation decisions.

Grading and plans

Meshach — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:11:20 +0000

Landscape Architects Inc.

Stephen Mastey, Principal at Landscape Architecture Inc. Came over today and discussed fixing the grading on the East side of the house. The current situation is dire with a deep recession in the middle and a high berm in the front and elevated area in the back. This is a recipe for disaster. The only reason that the basement is dry is because of the fine sugar sand below which drains like the dickens.

Anyway, they’ll be leveling things out and taking out everything on the right side. They will temporarily be putting down some mulch to keep the soil stable. While they have it dug up they will be putting in a drain of some sort (Stephen, help me out here!) and running conduit for future electrical runs. In the spring we will be moving forward with some pretty exciting stuff. think modern Japanese with local flora and some rain gardens to prevent runoff.

One idea I have been floating around is to create a cutout of the numbers on a metal sheet buried in concrete. Sounds fun, right? If I do go that way, I’ll be cutting and welding it myself, so stay tuned. I’ll make sure to take a lot of photos.

-M

Renovation project starts

Meshach — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:21:06 +0000

OK, so I recently bought this house. It’s a small 1955 rambler on the border of St. Paul and Minneapolis, in Desnoyer Park (a very unknown gem in the Twin Cities.) I purchased it with some significant renovation work in mind. I have a limited budget and I would like to go “Green” as well. Through this renovation blog you can learn the process I went through, learn from my mistakes and successes (mistakes can be successes too!) and hopefully have a good time doing it. Wish me luck.

So far I have Phillip Broussard from Architron as my St. Paul-based architect and JasonStinson from Stinson Builders, Inc. in Minneapolis, as my general contractor. We will also be working with Stafford Home Services for Electrical, HVAC (for a new Furnace, AC unit and ducts), home sound installation, and the new Media Room; and Landscape Architects for Landscape design and Landscape work. They all do amazing work, so check their sites out.