Making room for family gatherings, with beams of wood and steel

The owners of this contemporary home in Northfield Township wanted to expand their living room. The existing living room was the only gathering space in the house, and it just wasn't big enough to accommodate their children's growing families at the holidays.

They decided to add 12 feet to the back of their living room. In order to remove the bearing wall between the existing living room and the addition, Studio Z Architecture determined that a steel beam would be necessary. This beam would serve as a separation between the two story vaulted ceiling in the existing living room and the 14 foot high vault in the addition.

The owners wanted decorative wood trusses and beams in the addition, and decided to add decorative beams to the ceiling of the existing living room.

The owners were very concerned that the addition fit in aesthetically with the existing house. To accomplish this, Studio Z clad the addition with the same cedar siding as was on the existing house. In order to prevent the sun from overheating the addition during the summer, Studio Z designed deep overhangs on the addition.