BEHLES+BEHLES was commissioned to design a new home in New Mexico that would maximize privacy, create controlled views, provide totally barrier-free living and be energy independent.
The single-story design solution arranges all living spaces around a courtyard, the heart and most private space of the home. The courtyard, anchored by a large tree placed asymmetrically, marks the major axes of movement and spatial organization. Deep loggias provide sun protection, and sliding glass walls permit rooms to expand seamlessly into the courtyard. All views are inward, save for the monumental window wall in the living room aimed at Sandia Peak.
In-floor radiant heat, photo-voltaic panels, solar pool heat and strict, barrier-free design provide for a truly independent lifestyle.
The client for this new single family residence requested a home that was:modest in size, contemporary in design, compatible with the neighborhood, and fully integrated with the outdoors.
BEHLES+BEHLES answered this brief with a very narrow house that provided multiple exposures for all major spaces. The footprint takes the form of the letter “E”, surrounding two exterior rooms: an entry court and a kitchen garden. Steeply pitched roofs, a big bay window, and an open porch present a modest, street-friendly face that is both distinct from its neighbors yet very much at home in the neighborhood.
BEHLES+BEHLES was asked to modify an existing 1 1/2 story Cape to accommodate a children’s playroom, screened porch and master bedroom suite. The existing house was situated on a large, suburban, corner lot with primary exposures facing west and south
Additions repeat the mass of the 1 1/2 story house. The master bedroom squeezes into the dormered attic above a pair of rooms (porch and playroom) on the first floor. A semi-circular portico unifies the dual plan, projecting the section of the master bedroom both as balcony and terrace.
BEHLES+BEHLES was asked to convert a 1929 David Adler-designed garage and apartment into a residence for a couple with grown children. Specific requirements included: music room, fireplace, "grandchildren's room", cook’s kitchen and a 2-car garage.
The site is a deep, narrow suburban lot fronting a busy street, with the existing L-shaped structure sited at the edge of a steeply sloping ravine at the rear. The narrowness of the site and the proximity of the ravine necessitated siting the new garage structure in the front yard. The resulting 3-sided entry court, shielded from the street, becomes the heart of the composition and the focus of the major rooms.
Awards:
Highland Park Historic Preservation
Exhibits:
AIA, Chicago Annual Meeting
Publications:
Better Homes & Gardens
Architecture Chicago , CCAIA
BEHLES+BEHLES designed several modifications to this stucco Arts & Crafts home on Chicago’s North Shore, including this new front entrance portico. The design solution took cues from existing fragments of the original construction, long since modified beyond recognition. Lack of documentation made historical restoration impossible; so formal elements were “re-imagined” in historically sympathetic ways.
The architectural program for this residential project required additions and alterations to an existing garage and apartment to accommodate guest lodging, new swimming pool, terrace, and support spaces.
BEHLES+BEHLES designed new building additions to echo the site's hard, man-made edge to the NW and the soft natural edge to the SE. A free-standing porch pavillion marks the connection to the main house and is sentry to the pool precinct. A pergola glues loose elements and provides a literal passage to the natural portions of the site.
Awards:
Winner of “Excellence in Masonry"
Exhibits:
Chicago Bar Association Exhibit
Rizzoli Bookstore, Chicago
AIA, Chicago Chapter Annual Meeting
Publications:
Architecture Chicago, CCAIA
