Houzz Tour: When an Architect Layouts for Himself

When San Francisco Bay Area architect John Lum made a decision to remodel the living area over his workplace, he made a discovery: it was hard to be both client and architect. “Normally we make an effort to hear what [customers] need,” Lum says. “Most folks need more lavish residences.” However he wished to concentrate on the basic principles of the 1917 creating. “I often check out symmetry – I enjoy matters very rationalized,” he states. The warehouse’s 32-inch rafters gave Lum a module that enabled him to to create the 1,300-square foot room with grid-like preciseness that is. “I wished to keep the pastoral quality, the located sensibility of the the room,” he states. “I was on an incredibly tight budget. Instead of exceptionally refined finishes, it will be in my best interest to do things only.”

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

Lum states that even though he’s Chinese, he’d not every really gravitated toward insides that are Asian. Therefore it absolutely was somewhat astonishing that most of the options for his house looked derived from an aesthetic. The sculpture by the window is by artist Ted Uran, and consists of steam-bent-wood. The seat in the foreground using its straight back to the audience is a replica of a Jean Prouvé.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

The dining area dining table is a custom piece, using a see-through glass-top that is red. The light classic seats were purchased by him in a nearby store. The opposite the couch are strong oak, that used used until Lum left them outside to be rather spotless. “They got all broken and weathered, and so I brought them indoors,” he states.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

Photographer Michael Light, Lum’s associate, shot the picture an picture of the desert, on the sofa.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

“Because the kitchen would be a part of the parlour, I needed it to not appear to be a kitchen,” Lum says. The root of the isle is steel that is perforated; it is possible to find its translucence, in the event you look carefully. The island is topped with marble, as well as the counter top across from it’s a 600-pound s-Lab of metal. The back-wall is the identical stucco as in the bath, having a metal trowel end to provide a sleek, burnished area to it.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

Lum’s group of sculpture and artwork is diverse, and his responses to queries about it are thorough and passionate. This print, titled Long Vertical Falls, is by abstract artist Pat Steir.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

“I do not enjoy stuff that are highly ornamental,” Lum claims. “I enjoy things which might be exceptionally mechanical.” He exhibits his number of outdated clocks (most of which do not work) atop a Ming Dynasty cupboard from the 1500s. “In Chinese tradition, searching at functioning clocks is thought to be really poor fortune; I do not don’t think in that,” he notes. The art above is a collage by Dennis McNulty.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

The toilet is in fact in the center of the the room, which can be laid out together with the area at the bedrooms in the rear as well as the front. The partitions completed to resist water, used using a metal trowel for special smoothness and are created using the exact same stucco as the outside of the constructing. The bath is salvaged, along with the whole ceiling is a sky-light. Notice the shower, which assists a grand feeling is retained by the chamber.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

Lum selected since they do not work flawlessly cheap sink and shower fixtures, which he states he does sometimes repent. The sink best is produced of metal.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

The doorways involving back and the front of the flat open to every-thing from a buttery and also the fridge to the washing machine and drier. The doorways are ash veneers stained a darkbrown which has a green form to it.

John Lum Architecture, Inc. AIA

Lum claims he’s mainly considering kind and feel in his models and his own house, which will be likely much of it feels just like a sculpture gallery. “It took me five years to get a sofa,” he admits. See some jobs he’s designed for the others

Mo Re re-modeling jobs:
A Layout in Harmony with all the Land
A Contemporary Renovation in Seattle
Warm San-Francisco Re Model