A Noe Valley Craftsman Goes Back to Nature

A San Francisco design duo modernized a traditional craftsman home by opening it to the outdoors. “THERE’S A SENSE OF WANTING to bring back the elemental, the wild,” says designer Kevin Hackett, whose firm Síol Studios recently joined forces with architect Ross Levy to transform a modest bungalow on a down-sloping lot in San Francisco’s […]

3 Innovative Projects That Transformed Old Buildings Into Multiuse Spaces

Obsolete purpose-built structures are morphing into versatile gathering spaces. IN OUR TECHNOLOGICAL AGE, as brick-and-mortar businesses and institutions fade, buildings designed to house them also lose their purpose. But entrepreneurs and designers are finding ways to make them multifunctional and versatile. Several solutions in the Bay Area, while different from each other, share one thing: […]

Partner Spotlight: Boost Your Home’s Resale Value With Kipnis Architecture + Planning’s Sustainable Design Practice

Caption: A Lake Zurich solar home completed in 2018. The home was designed to capture key views out to the lake and features a long list of sustainable features including a significant solar panel array. (Photos courtesy of Kipnis Architecture + Planning.)   Incorporating sustainability into the home has never been more critical, not only […]

A Modern Napa Home Designed in the Cloud

Mike Neil, a Microsoft executive living in Seattle, contacted San Francisco architect Jim Zack in part to prove how easy cloud computing — Neil’s specialty — and the digital sphere make it for people to work together at a distance. Hundreds of miles away, Zack was enlisted to visit a 15-acre St. Helena hillside lot […]