Runner in Style is Tapiz color Boulder

Greg Scott Makinen

Greg Hadley

Blue orange and white enliven the narrow stair. Large windows let in light - a colorful multi-paned window transfers that light into the small office that shares a wall. A playful light fixture by Tech Lighting lights up the space with "Bugs"

Deep tones of gently weathered grey and brown. A modern look that still respects the timelessness of natural wood. With the Modin Collection, we have raised the bar on luxury vinyl plank. The result is a new standard in resilient flooring. Modin offers true embossed in register texture, a low sheen level, a rigid SPC core, an industry-leading wear layer, and so much more.

The main internal feature of the house, the design of the floating staircase involved extensive days working together with a structural engineer to refine so that each solid timber stair tread sat perfectly in between long vertical timber battens without the need for stair stringers. This unique staircase was intended to give a feeling of lightness to complement the floating facade and continuous flow of internal spaces. The warm timber of the staircase continues throughout the refined, minimalist interiors, with extensive use for flooring, kitchen cabinetry and ceiling, combined with luxurious marble in the bathrooms and wrapping the high-ceilinged main bedroom in plywood panels with 10mm express joints.

In this Danbury home, we updated the space by installing new railing, posts, balusters and tread covers

Staircases to basement Photography: Paul Craig

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Eric Roth Photo

Escalier avec rangement intégré

Ручная роспись потолка по эскизам дизайнеров. Фото Анон Лубенец

Beautiful runner and area rug create warmth

Entry Makeover with Arches and Simplified Stairs.

One of our commercial designs was recently selected for a beautiful clubhouse/fitness center renovation; this eco-friendly community near Crystal City and Pentagon City features square wooden newels and wooden stringers finished with grey/metal semi-gloss paint to match vertical metal rods and handrail. This particular staircase was designed and manufactured to builder’s specifications, allowing for a complete metal balustrade system and carpet-dressed treads that meet building code requirements for the city of Arlington.CSC 1976-2020 © Century Stair Company ® All rights reserved.

These gorgeous stairs have been treated to one of our bespoke flatweave herringbone runners, featuring Crucial Trading's timeless Alpine, finished with a black linen taped edge.