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<p>Melander Architects Inc. San Franscico Based architectural design firm owned
by Kurt Melander</p>
<p>Avon Residence: Avon New Jersey<br>
Our client, a native of the Jersey Shore and a Manhattan attorney, called upon
Melander Architects to design his 3,300 square foot weekend beach house. This
remarkable piece of property is flanked by both the Shark River and Atlantic
Ocean.<br>
To create a simple plan, we placed kitchen, living and dining rooms on the first
floor with accompanying verandas to host our client's friends and family on
warm and bug-less weekend summer nights. The guest quarters and master bedroom
suite are located on the second and third floors. A small garage in the backyard
allows for storage and shelters an outdoor shower.<br>
Inspiration for the exterior materials was found in the neighborhood's 80-year-old
bungalow-style structures that use a mix of painted clapboard and cedar shake.
</p>
<p>Barbur Loft Residence: New York, New York<br>
This long and narrow Chelsea apartment with perfectly framed views of the Empire
State Building to the north and roof top water towers to the south was originally
a shop floor in a 19th century button factory. In adapting this extraordinary
yet challenging space as an apartment we used color, texture, and space planning
to create an indoor street as vibrant as those outside.<br>
All the furniture, fabric and casework were either specified or custom designed
by Melander Architects.<br>
The Barbur Loft Project was featured in the March 2000 issue of Interiors Magazine.
</p>
<p>California Academy of Sciences: San Francisco California<br>
On the 150th Anniversary of their founding, the California Academy of Sciences
hired Melander Architects, Inc. to assist in finding a temporary (five years)
home in which to work during the construction of a new facility in Golden Gate
Park. Over a six-month period, Melander Architects and The Academy analyzed
five different buildings in San Francisco before selecting a suitable site in
the South of Market District.<br>
The new facility, comprised of seven levels and 184,700 square feet of space,
will contain a world-class public aquarium, café, retail store, exhibit/teaching
spaces, research library, laboratories, collection storage facilities, and administrative
offices. Due to the complexity of uses, the hazardous nature of the collections,
and the stringent requirements of the curators and scientists, Melander Architects
worked with a multidisciplinary team including mechanical, structural, and fire
protection engineers, exhibit designers, aquarium designers, code expediters,
and contractors. With the opening of the facility in the spring of 2004, The
California Academy of Sciences will represent for Melander Architects our largest
and most complex project to date. </p>
<p>The Luggage Store: San Francisco California<br>
The Luggage Store, a high profile, contemporary arts gallery located on San
Francisco's historic Market Street contracted Melander Architects to help them
create a five-year plan for expansion. <br>
Specifically, The Luggage Store asked us to help them achieve the following
three goals:<br>
- Bring the historic unreinforced masonry building into compliance with the
city's stringent earthquake and fire codes;<br>
- Increase its presence on the streetscape to help this art institution promote
its new arts and educational programs; and<br>
- Outline a phased construction plan that would enable the directors to obtain
grants and work more closely with the Mayor's Office of Community Development.<br>
The first phase of the project, now completed, consisted primarily of modifying
the lighting and electrical elements to allow for better flexibility, detailing
walls tofunction as better surfaces for theatrical and musical events and dramatically
improving the general conditions for displaying fine art. </p>
<p>Mitsch Renovation: San Francisco California<br>
Our clients, a young San Francisco couple living in Cole Valley, asked us to
modify their Arts and Crafts, three-bedroom home in order to open it up to a
beautiful backyard garden.<br>
Our primary challenge was to preserve the elegant scale and detail of the 1910
rooms. To this end we opened the spaces to each other - kitchen into dining
room and dining room onto garden. In place of walls, a thick curtain was used
to contain spaces or, if desired, pulled back to create an airy room open to
the garden.<br>
The Mitsch Renovation Project was featured in the 2003 January issue of Sunset
Magazine. </p>
<p>Savannah Island Residence: Savannah Georgia<br>
The program brief for this family vacation house included combining kitchen,
dining, and living spaces into an open plan to allow for large gatherings and
entertaining, creating a master bedroom suite that incorporates a painting studio
and porch, and providing two additional bedrooms and a flexible space to serve
as both family room and guest room. The swimming pool, screened porch, and outdoor
decks were added to the program at a later stage. The owner, a Savannah native,
made it a priority that the house should withstand the harsh conditions of its
ocean-side environment with minimal exterior maintenance.<br>
Flood-zone regulations mandated that the house be raised at least six feet off
the ground. The client's requirements for parking, generous patio space, and
a swimming pool were accommodated on the tight lot by raising the house an additional
two feet. Thus elevated, the house sits within a canopy of shade trees for privacy,
while the spaces below frame views of the marsh and ocean beyond and form a
sheltered breezeway. The Island Residence Project has been featured in national
publications including Dwell, Custom Home, and The New American House IV. </p>
<p>The Church: Turtle Lake Wisconsin<br>
Built in 1898, this one room Methodist Church sited in the middle of an open
field in northern Wisconsin was designed to become a year-round retreat and
artist studio. <br>
To preserve the sanctity of the grand interior volume, we suspended the new
bedroom and bathroom above the kitchen using a separate structural system from
that of the original church. The central fireplace provides a strong and simple
interior focal element, reflecting the exterior bell tower, which evokes the
building's former use. </p>
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