Magnolia Modern
This modern custom home sits on a corner lot in Magnolia, facing gorgeous views of Elliott Bay, downtown Seattle, and Mount Rainier. The architectural inspiration was drawn from the massive shipping barges and their stacked containers seen floating in Puget Sound, and the nautical elements of Seattle’s history. The cantilevered upper floor is clad in grey zinc and creates a spacious and covered outdoor deck that flows naturally into the main living areas and can be used in all seasons.
The main floor of the home is an open plan with views from nearly every room. Balancing the daily function for family and hosting gatherings, the family den lives off the great room with large sliding divided-lite doors that can be closed off for privacy when needed.
The upper floor features three bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom; a nice feature for teenage kids and guests alike. The primary suite is oriented toward the territorial views of Elliot Bay and Mount Rainier, with floor to ceiling windows washing the bedroom in sunlight. Featuring high performance, passive rated windows and an airtight exterior, the home’s large glazing walls help keep the home cool and comfortable throughout the year.
Axiom’s process and expert team provided a turn-key experience from site work and surveying, to schematic and conceptual design, through construction and interior design. This level of team integration and creative collaboration was instrumental to making this stunning modern home the marquee project in our 20+ years of building in Seattle!
Hope
Restoring the luster and original architectural details of this classic mid-century home was the inspiration for our recent Magnolia remodel. Our clients purchased their dream home at the precipice of a global pandemic with the hope of breathing life back into the space and putting down roots to start their family. Conscious of budget, Axiom’s design team focused on remodeling the main public spaces of the home: kitchen, dining room, and great room facing Puget Sound. Laden with original cedar paneled walls, fir ceilings and exposed beams, stone fireplace, and fir-wrapped windows, the great room cried out for a more traditional restoration.
After years of deferred maintenance, some structural updates were required to restore the character of the great room. Axiom carpenters reconstructed the massive window wall, in keeping with the original design; adding new mortised fir framing, metal flashing to protect against rot, and stopping in large panes of insulated glass to improve the home’s energy efficiency and help mitigate the heat and any future UV damage from the direct western exposure.
The kitchen, too, was in need of a more efficient layout and some structural updates. By installing a new beam in the ceiling between the kitchen and dining room, the team introduced an effortless flow and a space more conducive to high use and hosting friends and family. The newly designed kitchen, with added seating, dovetails a contemporary vibe into the classic mid-century spirit, with exposed edge walnut cabinets and routered pulls, accentuating the clean, refined aesthetic of the period.
The introduction of a new, larger sliding door completes the circuit, providing improved access to the expansive views and luxuriously wide deck. A custom walnut screen wall and entry hutch, complemented by the vintage lighting left by the original owner, create and elegant layer of privacy at the home’s main entrance.
Collaborating on this project was a profound experience for our team and client. Navigating the uncharted waters of design and construction during a pandemic, our team had to learn new ways to safely collaborate and still deliver our standard level of expert craftsmanship and customer experience. In the end we are so proud to have delivered a beautiful home to a very deserving client.
Atlas
When facing the impact of human encroachment on natural habitats, record consumption of fossil fuels and the resulting rise of energy costs, it is essential that architects and builders focus on utilizing high-performance and sustainable construction techniques to reduce the strain on our environment.
To relieve the burden on natural resources, modern homes can be designed and built to higher standards of energy efficiency, yielding a minimal, carbon-neutral and if possible, carbon-negative footprint. Increased use of sustainable materials will help increase the market share of companies providing those materials and ultimately bring production costs down and make products more accessible for builders.
The Atlas project is a certified passive home designed and built in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The major design challenge was to harmonize rigorous sustainability requirements with a custom, luxury aesthetic. The exclusive use of sustainable construction materials created a unique challenge to achieve a remarkably elegant and high-performance home.
This project was an inspirational collaboration and a unique educational experience for both team and client alike. To help secure the coveted residential passive rating, the in-house design team and construction team, and key vendors engaged in outside coursework and seminars to become passive-home certified. The project required the team to revisit proven residential design processes and incorporate new methods, technologies, and strategies to realize the client’s vision.
Inspired by Scandinavian and German modernist design, the client was looking to build a large custom home, whose sustainable footprint would be guided by some of the most rigorous building-science and testing standards available. Creating a certified passive home meant that the process would be validated by an independent audit process and fully integrated into the architectural experience. The finished product yielded an elegant, modern dwelling with a net neutral carbon footprint. At project completion the home was awarded PHIUS+ Certified Project by the Passive House Institute US Awards as well as an Energy Star rating.
Balancing technology, advanced building systems, and a clean aesthetic made this one of the most challenging and professionally rewarding design-build collaborations in our firm’s 20-year history.
Charlie
A classic Capitol Hill craftsman with all the bells and whistles!
This project was truly a labor of love. The homeowner knew his family’s forever home would some day be found, nestled in the north east neighborhood of Capitol Hill. A community of some of the finest, and oldest homes in the city this project required a refined and elegant design to match its surroundings.
While staying true to the original character of this home and respecting the bones of the structure, refinishing and expanding family gathering spaces and creating more bedrooms were top of this family’s priority list. A dormer addition on the top floor, folded seamlessly into the orignal structure, allowed for ample storage while creating a secluded primary bedroom and ensuite bath with stunning views of Lake Washington. On the main floor, the kitchen was modernized while referencing the original classic architecture, transforming it into a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
The palette and materials used throughout flow with contemporary neutral tones, accentuated with pops of color and pattern in unexpected places. A full cosmetic update of all bathrooms, bedrooms, and living spaces breathes new life into this classic Seattle home.
Greta
This project is an Axiom original from conception to completion. Greta began as a new modern farmhouse in Magnolia on a steep slope lot with a small 40’s house on the lot. With views of Fisherman’s Terminal and the Ballard Bridge, Greta’s interior design evolved with Scandinavian modern influences. The large kitchen is the hub of the home with an open flow to the back courtyard as well as the living spaces. The interior screen wall provides light and shadow while offering limited transparency into the staircase from the entry. The eclectic Moroccan tile in the entry and back hall coupled with the white oak plank floors throughout offer a sense of playful simplicity. From the master suite to the powder room and den, the design of Greta evolved using the modern Scandinavian farmhouse theme for nearly every design decision. A true stunner.
