Escalante Retreat / Imbue Design
Having recently graduated from university, full of youthful energy and optimism, two college buddies pooled their money to embark on an adventure that wouldn’t fully come to fruition until many years later.
Having recently graduated from university, full of youthful energy and optimism, two college buddies pooled their money to embark on an adventure that wouldn’t fully come to fruition until many years later.
Best Practice originally designed the Shed-O-Vation as part of their Backyard Bump-Out project completed in 2018. When COVID forced these homeowners to confront the need to accommodate working and exercising from home
Composed of three buildings (main house, guest house, and writer’s studio), ShineMaker Retreat is arranged as a set of simple box-like volumes, each designed in response to its specific location.
Nestled among the Mercer Island trees, this project renovated and modernized a 70’s-era Black and Caldwell spec home. Carefully detailed modifications preserved what the family loved about their home while creating more functional and fresh spaces inside and out.
We transformed this two-unit rental building into a modern showcase with a comprehensive rebuild that included rear and vertical additions, and a two-story excavation.
The Kinney Residences consist of a main residence and guest house which flank a central courtyard space on a generous lot in South Austin. Visitors are greeted by the single-story guest house which is designed to be a quiet element in the streetscape
The clients wanted a Passive House, that they knew. They purchased a wooded, 2.8-acre lot with an old stone wall, remnants of a farmstead. Clearly somebody knew what they were doing with this land once.
Gossamer on the Water embodies balance, reconciling strength with airiness on the exterior and exposure with intimacy on the interior. The structure presents as gauzy and light as it ripples across the site, though is anything but fragile.