We applied for and received a variance to expand the existing upper levels living component so that it becomes the predominant use from a square footage perspective. City also approved the Regional Center application without resistance or remonstrance.
We are looking forward to completing the balance of the design for permitting and starting the construction phase. Please see the project page for more images and ongoing storyline. We’ll be adding updates as we do, so please check-back!
Oct 2022, Indianapolis: Tom Wechsler proves he still has the magic touch at the recent bocce ball tournament held near Fletcher Place in Holy Rosary neighborhood. Will anyone be able to challenge the STW in 2023? Stay tuned!
2020 is challenging us on various fronts beyond crazy architectural details and a worldwide virus without a cure. Now racial awareness issues have again come to the forefront and have challenged us to be better as a nation and as a people.
Dream Realm, a Beginning (Ball State University – College of Architecture & Planning – Student Project – November 1991)
Architectural details are not a new thing, just tools to help solve functional problems, ideally with aesthetic benefit.
Viruses are not a new thing either. But most of us have not experienced this level of interruption to our daily routines from the threat of sickness.
And now the topic of racial diversity is before us front-and-center. How our differences affect all levels of the life experience has become a most urgent focus society-wide.
Unification Memorial: Catalyst for Social Change (Ball State University – College of Architecture & Planning – student thesis booklet, May 1992)
Is it possible to put all of these things together to make a difference and help spur positive change?
As we ponder how we can help, many of our “solutions” center on the things we know. For us, that is urban planning and architecture.
Is there any learning from the past that can help guide us? Perhaps. One particular effort comes to-mind. We dusted-off this thesis project from 1992 to see what motivated us to tackle similar issues almost 30 years ago.
Unification Memorial: Catalyst for Social Change – A learning resources center specifically attempting to raise awareness and shape views of past and existing racial diversity in the United States.
Is it naive to think that the process and result of creating a significant socially-conscious multi-purpose civic resource (a building) can serve as a “catalyst for social change”?
Old Northside construction progress at 1530 Broadway Modern Villa has gone vertical. Overall, crews have now weathered-in primary structure, and rough-ins are underway.
Also, interior finish selections are in-process and coming together nicely.
Soon to follow on exterior are exterior cladding, front porch structure, carriage house, lanai, upper bridge, outside grill station, and in-ground pool!
HAUS project featured in Contemporist article about wood ceilings – check out these amazing projects from around the world!
Wood is a great way to add warmth to an interior, but it doesn’t just have to be about floors and furniture. Here are 20 examples of interiors that put wood on the ceiling. Check-out number 7.
HAUS project Featured on Home Adore. This site borrows the best modern design images from around the world, so check it out if you are looking for design inspiration.
HAUS Interior Project focusing on Foyers, Entrances, and Hallways, has been featured in the Wall Street Journal – here is the text of the article written by Alina Dizik.
“In Luxury Homes, Foyers Get Functional—and Fabulous
Irked by what they see as wasted space, some luxury homeowners are asking designers to reimagine home entryways
Entryways and hallways are often an afterthought for home buyers. Now, some homeowners are asking designers to reimagine them as versatile spaces. Photo: Drew Kelly for The Wall Street Journal
When Gary Loeb and David Fraze host a party in their 1897 Elizabethan home in San Francisco, many guests barely get past the front door. Instead they gather inside the wood-paneled foyer, which has 16-foot ceilings, an original fireplace and a vintage rug. “A lot of people just spend half the party standing in the foyer,” says Mr. Loeb, a 46-year-old executive for a health technology firm.
Long the doormat of home design, entryways and hallways are often an afterthought for home buyers, who typically spend their money on other rooms. In a recent survey at The Wall Street Journal’s request, 46% of respondents on home-design website Houzz.com said hallways are the most overlooked spaces when decorating a home.
Now, irked by what they see as wasted space, some homeowners are asking designers to reimagine entryways as versatile spaces that double as dining rooms, dens and entertaining spaces. “People are not just hanging art on the walls and walking through,” says Jennifer Roberts, an associate broker with the Fisher Roberts team at Engel & Völkers in New York.
When renovating their Sacramento, Calif., home, Randy Reynoso and Martin Camsey removed part of a wall to open up the entryway and create a homey feel where the two would want to linger. The long staircase in their Monterey Colonial-style home now has a custom wrought-iron railing and a vintage French chandelier that can be mechanically lowered for cleaning. The foyer also includes a powder room, and shelving in a seating area holds Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha” and other vintage tomes from Mr. Reynoso’s great-grandmother’s library. “We reimagined what [the foyer] would look like in 1928,” when the house was built, said Mr. Reynoso, a 57-year-old financial institution executive who worked with local interior designer Curtis Popp on the project. He estimates the foyer cost about $35,000 to create.
Modern, open-plan architecture poses a particular challenge for clients looking to bring back that Old World grandeur of entrances, says Gisue Hariri, co-founder of an architecture and interior-design firm in New York. “Historically, entrances were very much celebrated,” says Ms. Hariri. “In general, we try to make sure these neglected areas do make a comeback.”
In newer condos that lack formal entryways, Ms. Hariri suggests a partial wall to create an intimate space with a gallery feel when walking in the front door. For a client in Manhattan’s Sutton Place neighborhood, she created a wall that features a modern mural of walking figures by artist Julian Opie. Other wall designs by Ms. Hariri also include hidden storage—a way to keep clutter to a minimum without adding extra furniture.
In his Indianapolis home, Phil Salsbery created a faux hallway with cabinetry to help define the home’s living area. Foyers, Entrances, Hallways – CHRIS SMITH FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
In Indianapolis, Phil Salsbery created a false hallway using cabinetry with hidden, built-in storage. The new corridor allows access to the master bedroom without cutting through the living room, where someone may be relaxing and watching television. The hallway cabinets provide much-needed storage space, since the condo has many floor-to-ceiling windows, says Mr. Salsbery, 52-years-old and owner of an investment firm. He also worked with designer Chris Short to create a circular entryway, with a blue-lighted ceiling, that leads to the false hallway. “It creates a spectacular entrance that cuts the harshness of the angles” in the home, says Mr. Salsbery, who estimates that he spent $50,000 on building out the hallway and foyer.
Ms. Roberts, the New York broker, says sellers see more value in homes where transitional spaces have been put to work. A recent buyer turned the hallway between a two bedrooms into a den with a television. She has also seen homes where owners used a spacious entryway for formal dining. When selling a home, Ms. Roberts tells clients to be more creative when showing off their foyers and hallways. “You should definitely stage it so people can see how they should be utilizing it,” she says.
Regardless how foyers are used, they still need to make a good first impression. Melody Adhami, a 34-year-old who runs a mobile-app agency, says the foyer in her Toronto home is the one room that’s off limits to her two young children. The space is often used for side conversations when guests come over and has an oversize velvet ottoman and art created from metal disks, along with a console table for a wow factor when guests enter, she says. “It’s not necessarily used by the kids, so we could do nicer things,” says Ms. Adhami, who worked with designer Ines Mazzotta but declined to disclose costs.
Pamela O’Banion, a 62-year-old homemaker, wanted to create a sense of surprise when guests entered her 1,500-square-foot Nob Hill condo with views of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. First, she and her designer, Matthew Turner, closed up several doorways that led to other rooms and painted the walls a dark green to better define the entryway. Then they added dimly lighted sconces, a woven Versailles-style parquet floor and gilded furniture for a sense of romance. In all, the entryway project cost about $50,000.
“I wanted [visitors] to think they were walking into a jewel box,” she says.
Corrections & Amplifications:
Jennifer Roberts is an associate broker with the Fisher Roberts team at Engel & Völkers in New York. An earlier version of this article incorrectly misspelled the firm as Fischer Roberts. (8/20/2015)”
HAUS enjoyed participating in the design and execution of the Alexander Boutique at The Alexander Hotel located in downtown Indianapolis. The hotel and boutique gets design inspiration from Scottish engineer, Alexander Ralston‘s layout for Indianapolis in 1821. A motif of the one-mile square with radiating 45-degree streets is utilized in the boutique concepts and details. Thanks to Buckingham Companies and Justine Sharp for the collaboration.
Thanks so much to the editors, writers, and LUTRON for sponsoring the article. Thanks to our client for the opportunity to retrofit this unit on 6th Floor of Allen Plaza.
Thanks to our clients of the two units for participating and also thanks for Leo Stenz and the team at Stenz Construction for all of their coordination and the team approach.
HAUS has completed conceptual design work for this Industrial Chic Modern Interior for newly renovated 4-Plex in Herron Morton Place – North Alabama Street – Indianapolis.
We are appreciative of the opportunity to collaborate on a collection of new urban condo interiors – please check back for updates and construction photos (Urban Interior Design)!
HAUS called-on to envision and oversee industrial retrofit to existing urban loft – “are you serious about bringing 300# barn doors up six flights of stairs?? … Yes we are.”
