24 July 2014 QR ForResidentialPros.com
PROJECTS: Exterior Solutions | By KJ Fields
Careful planning
for an exterior
remodel in the
Chicago suburbs
creates a win
for family and
neighborhood
E
vanston, Ill.-based
Roberts Architects
a n d C o n s t r u c t i o n
was presented with a
complex situation. A
family in Wilmette, Ill., needed
a larger one-car garage to better
accommodate their lifestyle and
children's bicycles, wanted to
add a family study inside and
were interested in updating
the look of their home's front
facade. The village of Wilmette,
however, had zoning and lot
coverage restrictions, and the
owners wanted the updated
home's appearance to blend in
with its 1940s-era cul-de-sac
neighbors. David Roberts, AIA,
CR, UDCP, owner of Roberts
Architects and Construction,
took advantage of an alleyway to
create a new one-and-a-half car
detached garage off the back side
of the house and transform the
existing attached garage into a
family study. Given the national
economy when this project
was conceived, the owners
decided to stage the project
over time. Roberts recognized
it was critical to consider all the
remodel's aspects at once, so he
created a full plan for the two-
part project.
The village of Wilmette had
concerns about impervious
surfaces and water runoff, as
well as regulations to prevent
overbuilding. "Land is tight
here, and we had precious little
square footage to accommodate
the owners' preferences and
conform to the requirements,"
Roberts explains. "It demanded
a lot of proportioning, variations
and performing 3-D renderings
to find the right balance."
MOVING PIECES
Roberts swapped the impervious
space needed for the new garage
with a new pervious area by
removing the concrete driveway
in front and adding lawn and
a pocket patio. The village of
Wilmette approved the phased
plan and the new detached
garage was built. The existing
garage waited for conversion
This remodel transformed the
one-car garage into a study,
added a larger detached garage
off the back side of the house
and updated the front façade.
Chess GAME
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