West Berkeley Office Remodel With Landscape Elements

For this project, we took an old, run-down garage and transformed it into a sleek, modern architecture office. We reframed, sound proofed and did voluntary seismic work for the structure. New doors were installed and an engineered steel and glass awning was placed over the double doors. The interior included new, built-in bookshelves, a matching, sliding utility door/closet, an integral colored slurry coat cement floor, and all new electrical and paint. For the landscape, we installed a metal fence and gate comprised of steel tube posts and corrugated, perforated metal for the horizontal elements. We also installed three large metal raised garden beds with irrigation, as well as a flagstone and gravel patio and walkway. Design by Anne Phillips Architecture.

Full Landscaping In Temescal Oakland

This back and side yard landscape project incorporated many facets of construction and provided a significant grade challenge in that the backyard was significantly higher than the house foundation. It required demolition of an old garage, tree removal and large amounts of dirt removal. In the side yard, we built a new garage, demolished and re-poured 100’ of hazardous sidewalk and installed irrigation and plants. In the backyard, we built several stucco-faced raised beds capped with stone, mortared a flagstone patio, built a lattice/trellis along the side of the garage, installed a fountain and installed irrigation and plants. Design by Vanessa Kuemmerle, Vee Horticulture.

Greenroofs 101

 

Living Roofs are not some crazy new idea, and neither is global warming.  In the bay area, there's not a whole lot of residential new construction going on, but every house needs a roof and every roof eventually needs roof-repair or replacement...

So, if you own a home, then you own a roof too!  Which gives you have the opportunity to offset some of the urban black-body heat island effect partially generated from what have come to be conventional roofing methods.  Your roof is an opportunity to add back a little bit of vegetated footprint/habitat that most roofs take away from our environment.

We can be activists through the choices we make, the actions we take :) 

Here are some links to a few great information sources:

Greenroofs 101:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp79mGpomf4

Eaarth Facts & Figures by Bill McKibben:  http://billmckibben.com/eaarth/factsandfigures.html

SIMPLE, COST EFFECTIVE OPTIONS:

RoofMeadows - RoofRug:  http://www.roofmeadow.com/details-specs-services/details-specs/roofmeadow-roofrug/