Mid-Century Modern Green Renovation

Glencoe, Illinois | 2009
Kipnis Architecture + Planning

This project is a significant renovation of a classic, modern 1956 residence with the addition of a new wing. The original home’s design had a clear interior/exterior relationship through the use of expansive glazing and brick masses that punctured the building shell from the exterior into the interior. This theme was broadened in the redesign at several key details. 



A new “teenager suite” was located above the newly rebuilt garage. The connection of this new space to the main house was achieved via an architectural masonry stair tower that features ground face concrete block punctuated by glass block openings, which provide filtered daylight inside the tower and dramatic nighttime lighting shining outward. Terminating the top of the stair is a circular domed skylight. The stair tower is a carefully integrated continuation of the existing serpentine brick wall. 



The exterior was re-clad with vertically oriented cement fiberboard framed between contrasting white reveals, whose horizontal joints of this system subtly tag key exterior elements of the house. A new overhang and copper rain chains at the entrance provide additional detailing to help define the entry.

Other green elements introduced during the renovation were solar thermal panels (for hot water and furnace assist), Retroplate concrete flooring in the basement, bamboo flooring and stair treads in the addition, no and low-VOC finishes, recycled tire flooring, and locally sourced ground face for the stair tower.

Project Manager: Rachel Wray Thompson
Builder: Sturm Builders, Inc.
Structural Engineer: Stuart K. Jacobson Associates, Ltd.
Photography: Cable Photo/Wayne Cable; Rachel Wray Thompson Read Less