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Process: The Green Street House

Process: The Green Street House

by | 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.

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Location

san francisco map_edited-1

Overview Map

map quesada

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:

models collage

Clockwise: West View, North View, Upper Floor, West Aerial View

model collage 2

Clockwise: East View, South View, Main Floor, Lower Floor

Concept 1 Renderings:

West View

West View

Kitchen Type 1

Kitchen Type 1

Kitchen Type 2

Kitchen Type 2

Main Stair

Main Stair

Hall

Hall

Concept 2 Renderings:

Kitchen

Kitchen

Dining Room

Dining Room

Hall

Hall

Walkway

Walkway

Concept 3 Renderings:

Main Stair

Main Stair

Bridge

Bridge

Dining Room

Dining Room

Diagram

Diagram

Concept 4 Renderings:

Main Stair

Main Stair

Dining Room

Dining Room

Bridge

Bridge

Final Concept Renderings:

Main Stair

Main Stair

Dining Room

Dining Room


Process

Existing | Rendering

Existing | Rendering

Construction 1 | Construction 2 Main Cantilevered Stair Development

Construction 1 | Construction 2
Main Cantilevered Stair Development

Existing | Rendering

Existing | Rendering

Construction | Rendering Lower Stair Development

Construction | Rendering
Lower Stair Development

Construction 1 | Construction 2 Upper Walkway Development

Construction 1 | Construction 2
Upper Walkway Development

Existing |New Home Office Rendering

Existing |New Home Office Rendering

Existing | New Home Office Rendering

Existing | New Home Office Rendering

Home Office Development

Home Office Development

Kitchen Development Collage: Existing, Sketch, Existing, Rendering

Kitchen Development. Clockwise: Existing, Sketch, Existing, Rendering

Kitchen Development. Construction 1 | Construction 2

Kitchen Development. Construction 1 | Construction 2

Master Bathroom Development. Sketches | Renderings

Master Bathroom Development. Sketches | Renderings

Master Bathroom Development

Master Bathroom Development

Exterior Views. Top: Existing, Bottom: Renderings

Exterior Views. Top: Existing, Bottom: Renderings

Exterior Views:  Construction 1 | Construction 2

Exterior Views: Construction 1 | Construction 2

Study Model:

Side View

Side View

study model collage

Aerial Front View | Section View

Side Aerial View

Side Aerial View

Clockwise: Entry Door, Front Facade, Stairs, Handrail

Clockwise: Entry Door, Front Facade, Stairs, Handrail


In Detail: Stairs

Concept 1 – Steel Handrail:

Basement Stair

Sketch – Basement Stair

Cantilevered Stair Landing

Sketch – Cantilevered Stair Landing

Landing Detail

Sketch – Landing Detail

Bridge

Sketch – Bridge

Final Concept – Glass Handrail:

Sketch: Final Concept Glass Handrail

Sketch – Final Concept Glass Handrail

Construction Drawing

Construction Drawing

Cantilevered Steel Stair Rendering

Cantilevered Steel Stair Rendering

Cantilevered Steel Stair Sketch

Cantilevered Steel Stair Sketch

Photo Detail of Cantilevered Stair

Photo Detail of Cantilevered Stair

Clockwise: Transparency Levels, Light Mockup, Rendering

Clockwise: Transparency Levels, Light Mockup, Rendering

Final Glass Handrail

Final Glass Handrail


In Detail: Bridge

Diagram

Diagram

Walkway Edge to Floor: Sketch

Walkway Edge to Floor: Sketch

Walkway Edge to Floor: Detail

Walkway Edge to Floor: Detail

Walkway Edge to Stair Tread: Sketch

Walkway Edge to Stair Tread: Sketch

Walkway Edge to Stair Tread: Detail

Walkway Edge to Stair Tread: Detail

Bridge Section: Sketch

Bridge Section: Sketch

Bridge Section: Detail

Bridge Section: Detail

Steel Rod Bracing: Sketch

Steel Rod Bracing: Sketch

Steel Rod Bracing: Sketch

Steel Rod Bracing: Sketch

Bridge Area Section: Sketch

Bridge Area Section: Sketch


 In Detail: Fireplace

Sketches:

SI-26SD-24

Detail: Low Left Side

Detail: Low Left Side

Section Left Side

Section: Left Side

Section: Right Side

Section: Right Side

Diagram

Diagram

LED Lighting

LED Lighting

Construction

Construction

Final Fireplace

Final Fireplace


 Drawings

Existing Floor Plans. Main Floor (left), Lower Floor (Right)

Existing Floor Plans. Main Floor (left), Lower Floor (Right)

New Floor Plans. Main Floor (Left), Lower Floor (Right).

Remodeled Floor Plans. Main Floor (Left), Lower Floor (Right)

Remodeled Plans. Roof (Left), Upper Floor (Right)

Remodeled Plans. Roof (Left), Upper Floor (Right)

Existing Elevations. North (Top), West (Bottom)

Existing Elevations. North (Top), West (Bottom)

Remodeled Elevations. North (Top), West (Bottom)

Remodeled Elevations. North (Top), West (Bottom)

Remodeled Elevations. South (Top), East (Bottom)

Remodeled Elevations. South (Top), East (Bottom)

Remodeled Sections

Remodeled Sections


Landscape

Sketches:

Early Rear Yard Sketch

Early Rear Yard Sketch: View Diagram

Early Rear Yard Sketch: Plan & Section Diagram

Early Rear Yard Sketch: Plan & Section Diagram

Sketch

Sketch

Concept 1:

Elevation

Plan

Elevation

Elevation

Concept 2:

Plan

Plan

Elevation

Elevation

Concept 3:

Plan

Plan

Elevation

Elevation

Concept 4:

Plan

Plan

Elevation

Elevation

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