Architecture is not for selected few but EVERYONE.

Jeon Remodel (Seattle, Washington State, USA)

Jeon Remodel is a remodel project for a house originally owned and designed by Jane Hastings, FAIA. The house, known as Johnston-Hastings house, was built in 1974 and won a Seattle AIA Honor Award in 1977.

The new owners are happy with the house in accommodating their young family of four, but they want to maximize the exterior spaces of the house for their family as well as to update the much-needed exterior improvements. The house had changed ownership several times and went through minor remodels. Most of the exteriors are still in the original materials and systems, but now they are starting to fail. The large glass wood windows are leaking and the painted over cedar shake siding as well as asphalt shingle roof need replacement.

Before the design commenced, an interview with Jane Hastings, FAIA was conducted to discover her original design idea. To a much surprise, she informed that the design approach was very practical. She wanted the house to be energy efficient by using insulated glazing and operable windows to release heat through natural cooling as well as using light well to let light coming deep inside the house. She stacked the house in three stories plus a garage basement due to the small lot size and to get the view of a nearby Lake Washington and University of Washington, Seattle.

The proposed remodel is intended to enhance the original design approach. Window replacements are designed with additional operable panes to create a natural cooling through cross ventilation. The siding is replaced with vertical wood siding to accentuate and strengthen the verticality of the house. Standing seam metal roof is used to allow easy retrofit for solar panels in the future. Glass folding doors replace wood windows and wood doors creating indoor-outdoor space. The most significant improvements are the addition of canopies over the roof and first floor decks making them usable year-round. These canopies require new structural supports expressed in bold red color marking a new identity for the house.