ArchDaily Features the Blair Barn House

Better late than never! Our good friends at ArchDaily were kind enough to feature the Blair Barn House on their website last month.. We always appreciate when others share Alchemy's work. Check out this link for the feature from ArchDaily.com.

Blair Barn House Video

We recently came across some footage from last September of a visit to the Blair Barn House. Geoffrey Warner is our tour guide as he describes the characteristics and features of this one-of-a-kind award winning house. Check out the video below!

In Fast (and Good) Company

Many thanks to Fast Company magazine for highlighting the National AIA Award winners in a slide show presentation. We're pleased to be in such great "Company" so-to-speak!

Phillips Garden (home to the only rooftop weeHouse!) to host Open Studio Days!

April 22^nd and April 23^rd 

11am-2pm

 

Phillips Garden, the avant-garde landscape firm in Minneapolis (and home to the only rooftop weeHouse!), is offering two days of free garden and landscape advice by staff landscape architects, designers and horticulturists. weeKnows their work is fabulous ... check out the Goodrich Bungalow backyard!

This is a great opportunity to get a feel of what a professional service can offer you as well as unlock the potential of your own home landscape.

“Many homeowners don’t know where to begin”, says Tyler Grissman, lead designer who has been with the firm for 8 years.  “In addition to helping people see potential in their landscape, we can also help them understand the process and advantages of hiring a landscape design/build company”.

Interested homeowners are encouraged to bring photos, layouts and measurements with them as well as a list of their own thoughts and needs.  Advance sign up is recommended.

 

weeWallpaper

wee has some cyber-wallpaper for'ya:

Downloadable for Mac or PC, the images were created by Geoffrey Warner and Greta Vick and are part of the "10 weeHouses 2011" project.

Thanks to all you dreamers who kept asking us for this ... we keep trying!

Imagine Living in a Small House exhibit, Milwaukee, WI

The weeHouse is part of Imagine Living Big in a Small House, an extension of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition Organic Architecture for the 21st Century. The truly wee weeHouse (built to a 1:12 scale) was created by Paris Renfroe and Robert Feyereisen. Paper figures inside are made by Jordan Grace Owens. When the exhibit is over on 5.15, the model will be available for purchase. Contact the model makers for more information. Photos provided by Feyereisen/Renfroe. More info at MiniModern blog, too.

2011 AIA National Housing Award for Blair Barn House

The American Institute of Architects has awarded the Blair Barn House by Geoffrey Warner with a 2011 AIA National Housing Award which emphasizes the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit and a valuable national resource. Alchemy is grateful to clients Donna Brogan & Bert Hodous, also Empire Development Construction and Coulee View Construction for making it a reality. Thank you!

wee's not getting any younger . . .

Although Alchemy gets quite a few calls about building new weeHouses, or simply new houses, we also get a fair number of calls about staying renovating existing houses (which we love to do!). 

Adapting a home for a changing lifestyle is a terrific design challenge. Lot of variables and considerable constraints make experienced designers all the more helpful. Maybe a young family is growing, so they're thinking about more space. Often, a family is rooted in their community and they're thinking about making an existing space 'smarter' for their lifestyle. And more and more people are asking us about 'mother-in-law' weeHouses, or growing 'outside' their existing box. Lots of options, lots of choices.

Locally, the University of MN is taking a look at design that optimizes "aging" at home. Since wee's not getting any younger, we're looking forward to seeing it. Here's the info.: 

Smart House, Livable Community, Your Future

February 5 - May 22, 2011

The first of 70 million Baby Boomers will reach age 65 in 2011. The size and impact of this post-World War II generation will challenge America’s resources, communities, and concepts of what it is to be a “senior.”  An AARP survey quoted in the Wall Street Journal (9/19/09) found that 85% of surveyed individuals age 50+ said they wish to remain in their community for as long as possible.

What does the desire to continue living independently mean for the design of homes for aging Baby Boomers, and for the design of communities?   Housing Studies professor Marilyn Bruin and Masters student Jodene Riha will address these questions in the upcoming exhibition, Smart House, Livable Community, Your Future, at the Goldstein Museum of Design (GMD), College of Design, University of Minnesota (February 5-May 22, 2011).