Process: The Green Street House
by Mark English, AIA | Work/News
Austin’s Green Street Cottage, which Mark English Architects had the privilege of remodeling, was designed in the style of the First Bay Region Tradition.
Every Building project is, in essence, a prototype.
When a computer or automobile maker designs a new product, the team of designers, engineers and fabricators work together to make the “first” of many. Bugs and difficulties are worked out as the prototype moves toward production. We in the construction industry don’t have that luxury – it has to be right the first time!
The process of design and construction, which results in a custom home, is unknown to many. Every beautiful home is the result of innumerable hours of communication through sketches, models, renderings and conversation. This post records some of the highlights of that process for the Green Street House. Our Builder was De Mattei Construction, and the Landscape Architect was Scott Lewis Landscape Architecture.
Location
Overview Map
Figure Ground Map
History
In 1917 the P.J. Martin Estates Company hired the architecture firm Austin & Sanford to design the cottages at Green Street in San Francisco. These historically significant homes are notable for being designed by one of the Bay Area’s first female architects, Elizabeth Austin. Austin, who designed over 30 Bay Area homes during the span of her career, studied architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. In her early career she collaborated with her colleague and friend Florence T. Hincks; they worked together to design such projects as her own mother’s house on Union Street in San Francisco as well as the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority House in Berkeley. From 1914-1917 she partnered with Sandford (about whom no records exist), designing the Green Street cottages among other projects such as a stage for the St. Francis Theater and another cottage in Mill Valley. Austin later moved to France, joining the American Women’s Overseas League and upon her return to the Bay Area worked for the Henry H. Gutterson architecture firm until 1943. In 1944 she served as a WWII nurse and it is unknown whether she returned to practice architecture with Gutterson after her service. Austin retired from the architecture field in 1953 and passed away in 1958.
Austin’s Green Street Cottage, which Mark English Architects had the privilege of remodeling, was designed in the style of the First Bay Region Tradition. Inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement, this style flourished between 1895 and 1917 and featured a West Coat interpretation of shingled facades of the East Coast traditions. The Green Street home features such prominent First Bay Region features as wood shingle siding, gables, asymmetrical facades and their more classical characteristics of pilasters and balustrades. Other Bay Area architects who worked prominently in this style include John Galen Howard, Ernest Coxhead, Julia Morgan and Bernard Maybeck. In his 1904 book The Simple Home, Charles Keeler outlined the four principles of the First Bay Region:
1. Utilization of undisguised natural materials from the local environment, such as cedar, redwood, and oak, as well as brick and stone.
2. Combination of traditional craftsmanship and historic motifs, such as Gothic arches or Doric columns, with moden building materials and construction methods, such as plate glass windows, reinforced concrete, and asbestos siding.
3. Integration with surroundings, both through the use of site-sensitive designs and natural materials, and by bringing “the outdoor indoors” with such devices as large areas of glass, balconies, and decks to allow sunlight and breezes from outside to flow through the interiors.
4. Making each building a unique design unto itself, an original work of art that fulfilled the specific needs of the client and the nearby community.
Concepts
Concept 1 Model:
Clockwise: West View, North View, Upper Floor, West Aerial View
Clockwise: East View, South View, Main Floor, Lower Floor
Concept 1 Renderings:
West View
Kitchen Type 1
Kitchen Type 2
Main Stair
Hall
Concept 2 Renderings:
Kitchen
Dining Room
Hall
Walkway
Concept 3 Renderings:
Main Stair
Bridge
Dining Room
Diagram
Concept 4 Renderings:
Main Stair
Dining Room
Bridge
Final Concept Renderings:
Main Stair
Dining Room
Process
Existing | Rendering
Construction 1 | Construction 2
Main Cantilevered Stair Development
Existing | Rendering
Construction | Rendering
Lower Stair Development
Construction 1 | Construction 2
Upper Walkway Development
Existing |New Home Office Rendering
Existing | New Home Office Rendering
Home Office Development
Kitchen Development. Clockwise: Existing, Sketch, Existing, Rendering
Kitchen Development. Construction 1 | Construction 2
Master Bathroom Development. Sketches | Renderings
Master Bathroom Development
Exterior Views. Top: Existing, Bottom: Renderings
Exterior Views: Construction 1 | Construction 2
Study Model:
Side View
Aerial Front View | Section View
Side Aerial View
Clockwise: Entry Door, Front Facade, Stairs, Handrail
In Detail: Stairs
Concept 1 – Steel Handrail:
Sketch – Basement Stair
Sketch – Cantilevered Stair Landing
Sketch – Landing Detail
Sketch – Bridge
Final Concept – Glass Handrail:
Sketch – Final Concept Glass Handrail
Construction Drawing
Cantilevered Steel Stair Rendering
Cantilevered Steel Stair Sketch
Photo Detail of Cantilevered Stair
Clockwise: Transparency Levels, Light Mockup, Rendering
Final Glass Handrail
In Detail: Bridge
Diagram
Walkway Edge to Floor: Sketch
Walkway Edge to Floor: Detail
Walkway Edge to Stair Tread: Sketch
Walkway Edge to Stair Tread: Detail
Bridge Section: Sketch
Bridge Section: Detail
Steel Rod Bracing: Sketch
Steel Rod Bracing: Sketch
Bridge Area Section: Sketch
In Detail: Fireplace
Sketches:
Detail: Low Left Side
Section: Left Side
Section: Right Side
Diagram
LED Lighting
Construction
Final Fireplace
Drawings
Existing Floor Plans. Main Floor (left), Lower Floor (Right)
Remodeled Floor Plans. Main Floor (Left), Lower Floor (Right)
Remodeled Plans. Roof (Left), Upper Floor (Right)
Existing Elevations. North (Top), West (Bottom)
Remodeled Elevations. North (Top), West (Bottom)
Remodeled Elevations. South (Top), East (Bottom)
Remodeled Sections
Landscape
Sketches:
Early Rear Yard Sketch: View Diagram
Early Rear Yard Sketch: Plan & Section Diagram
Sketch
Concept 1:
Plan
Elevation
Concept 2:
Plan
Elevation
Concept 3:
Plan
Elevation
Concept 4:
Plan
Elevation
