Motionspace Architecture + Design PLLC

Aug 2013

Located in a neighborhood where many homes are being torn down and replaced with new homes, this owner expressed a desire to keep the original home and work it into a substantial remodel and addition. Because of its appearance on the exterior, this home was affectionately called the double wide, but on the interior the home suffered from what many homes from the 1960's suffer from: 1) stairs in the wrong location and 2) an overly large fireplace that blocked the best views from the home. To allow enough budget for a 1500 square foot addition to the home, the remaining portion of the home needed to remain close to the existing floor plan. Arranged in a reverse floor plan, the home's main level houses the kitchen, dining, den, and master suite in the existing home, and a new vaulted ceiling living room in the new addition. A large entertaining deck with covered patio (with skylights and gas connection) is located above the new two-car garage. On the lower level are three kid's bedrooms and a bathroom in the existing home and new family room in the new addition. A new sky lit stair sits between the addition and the existing home, in the location where a massive fireplace used to be.

$250k

Bellevue, WA

Aug 2013

The new homeowners of this Mount Baker mid-century modern residence were initially attracted to the home because of the large entertaining living room and dining room (since they host large parties frequently). The room also has a nice view of Lake Washington. The rest of the house was large enough for their family and also their frequent house guests. While the house had the space the family needed, it wasn't their style. They loved Mediterranean design but couldn't see how to incorporate it into a mid-century home. After a lot of work and design, we came to a solution that is a ?modern Mediterranean? design inspired by the colors and materials of the Mediterranean, but still in keeping with what was special about the house in the first place (the open spaces, large glass walls, and exposed beams). The project involved refreshing the main living and dining area, remodeling the kitchen, master bedroom and master bathroom. We opened up the kitchen to the living room with larger openings that also incorporate large bookshelves to house their collection of books. Other areas of the house were refreshed with new paint, flooring, and lighting.

$225k

Seattle, WA

Aug 2013

This piece of property is on a steep hillside with very little usable back yard. The owner wanted to add a sport court to the property. Our solution incorporated a sport court terraced into the lowest level of the yard and a long winding stair that connects to a lower lawn area, and then winds up the hillside to connect to the upper lawn area and home. The long stair is broken by a series of landings into manageable portions that either provides a resting point or access to a lawn area. The stair is made of standard precast concrete blocks that were brought down the hillside in carts. To keep the project within budget, the use of landscape walls was avoided. Instead, the land was resloped to incorporate the level areas necessary for the sport court and the lawn.

$80k

Bellevue, WA

Sep 2013

Over the years we've observed that West Seattle has some of the funkiest and also most interesting homes in the City. This existing home leaned a bit more toward the funky, having been previously remodeled on the lower level but not the upper. But with an amazing west facing view of the Sound, we could tell this would be an opportunity to create something both special and interesting. Our clients expressed a desire to construct a new second story with a master suite to capitalize on the amazing view but also gave us the challenge of limiting the amount of structural work necessary to accomplish this. The site also had its own challenges, being on a steep slope, which limited the possible area of development, and a high wind zone, which made modifications to the existing structure more challenging. After examining our options and consulting with one of our structural engineers, we decided to construct the new addition mostly over an existing very solidly built 'bunker garage'. Due to its sturdy concrete construction we were able to locate the majority of the new addition over the garage without any modifications to the existing garage foundation. The new addition added two levels of covered decks which greatly increased outdoor living space facing the amazing view. And at the top the master bedroom faces the view while being nestled next to an existing pine tree, giving the feeling of being in a tree house. Of course the main level was remodeled to match the craftsman aesthetic of the existing lower level, and we redesigned the deck stairway and main level deck to provide better access to outdoor spaces.

$225k

Seattle, WA

Aug 2013

We removed a rotted porch and reconstructed a new porch in a different design that worked better with the existing house. The upper level of the porch is a view deck looking out onto Portage Bay. The landscape was reworked and a new pathway was created to the porch.

$50k

Seattle, WA

Aug 2013

Inspired by the rural farm houses and agricultural buildings of North Carolina, the New American Farmhouse is a home designed for casual and comfortable living. Featured in the 2004 Raleigh Parade of Homes, the home earned praise for its refreshing simplicity and clarity, informality, and connection with the outdoors and the pastoral views of the 13 acre site. While at 7500 square feet the home is quite large, much attention was paid to reducing its impact on our environment. The home was situated in a natural clearing so no trees were removed from the site. The home's glassy rear facade faces south to take advantage of passive solar energy (and capture views of a picturesque pond located on the property). It also uses an extremely efficient geothermal heating/cooling system that relies on the energy contained within the earth to heat and cool the home.

$1.3m

Apex, NC

Apr 2013

We removed an out-of-place overly large bathroom (right adjacent to the dining room) and turned the space into a pantry, open office, small powder room, and a lounge area. We reworked the area around the fireplace using reclaimed lumber as an accent.

$110k

Seattle, WA

Dec 2012

This home had a dated 1960's exterior that was in poor shape. The clients were interesting in updating the look and the quality of the materials for the house. They were also interested in keeping it as green as possible. Extensive research was done when selecting each component of the project.

$110k

Seattle, WA

Nov 2012

We devised a master plan for this two story home. So far the owner has completed the landscape, the master bathroom, the entry and the powder room.

$85k

Kirkland, WA