Designed by FINNE Architects and located at Lake Forest Park on a secluded, wooded site on north of Seattle, this wonderful 1950’s Northwest contemporary house was fully renovated to compose a modern and fresh environment for a relaxed lifestyle, but keeping in the same time the energy of the original one. Flooded with soft natural light through the extensive new windows and glazed roof monitors, the house seems like a glass pavilion exposed to the inspiring forest views.
Like other great projects developed by FINNE Architects, this house renovation has pursued the idea of “crafted modernism” and sustainable design practices, which the design studio is dedicated to. Almost every space had been re-organized being enlarged and enriched with a modernist aesthetic featuring highly personal crafted materials and objects, but keeping in the same time the intimacy and the sense of a warm and welcoming house. It features custom fabrications like the cast-glass kitchen counter, steel wall panels, suspended steel mirror frames, laser-cut steel shade valences, custom steel lighting bars, hand-blown glass pendants and a number of beautiful custom furniture pieces.
There were added new fir ceilings and a palette of new materials to create powerful juxtapositions of texture and color, allowing each material to benefit from adjacent contrasting surfaces. The existing terrazzo flooring has been re-finished with new areas of terrazzo added in a complementary color. The intense craftsmanship and detailing in this project was completed by the use of many green materials such as resin panels, quartz counters, linoleum, low VOC paint, and sustainable wood products, the end result being a charming, green home that take full advantage of surrounding panoramas of Lake Forest Park.
Photos: © Benjamin Benschneider.