Schematic Design is underway for the renovation of an existing 1932 garage structure for a house in Old Beach at the North End. Currently only housing the family’s surfboards and tools, the expansion will provide a fun play space for the children, and create a quiet place to tuck away and read a book.
Construction is moving at full speed at the duplex we’re working on with GreenBuildIt on Jefferson Blvd. in Virginia Beach. Framing by Joe Rivera and his team from Right Angle Works is looking great and is now up to the roof line, with stairs going in and the finish details being worked out.
Framing is complete and windows have been installed at this long, skinny house on the Hague. The views from the turret are incredible, and we have just begun working on stone shop drawing review. Can’t wait for the masonry to start!
VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST
BIRDS-EYE FROM NORTHWEST
Very recently, a couple had a custom home built for their family on a beautiful site with water views in Chesapeake. However, the finished interior space lacked cohesiveness; more than that, in their words, it lacked a soul. WPA was brought in and tasked with harmonizing the residence, pulling its spaces and materials together, and infusing it with some much needed Zen. To do this, WPA went to as potent a source as possible locally: the Boat House concert venue in Norfolk, which was being torn down after sitting in a decayed state after being badly damaged by Hurricane Isabel. Eight of its timber columns were salvaged and set aside to be installed in the residence, replacing haphazardly-placed drywall-clad wood studs throughout the living space. Steel details were designed to tie the timbers gracefully to the house and to each other. An up-lit, Venetian-plastered barrel vault was designed to float above the music room. A once arbitrary soffit above the main path of circulation was stitched from the timber columns to the adjacent open kitchen by steel “light troughs.”
This beautiful new shingle-style waterfront home is designed to take advantage of panoramic views out to the Lynnhaven Bay. The site formerly housed an old summer retreat getaway, complete with an outdoor fireplace building, trails down to canoe docks, and an oyster house for shucking the day’s catch. The new house bends to look over the water that surrounds the peninsula, and reuses the foundations of the old buildings, giving the fireplace and oyster shack new purpose. The main house connects to a guest suite and fitness room over the garage, stepping down through a covered breezeway. Features include a below-grade wine cellar, hand-crafted spiral stairs, a vaulted Great Room with a bridge above, and two masonry fireplaces. The pool house is on-axis with the pool, affording views through to the water.
