HOUSE AND HOME - SPRING 2025
Much of our focus at Tierney Conner revolves around understanding what our homes mean to us, and how to improve them through renovation and new construction. Our designs are not simply houses, but spaces that set the stage for our daily lives, both functionally and experientially. They come in all shapes and sizes, each one personally unique and able to evolve with us over time.
For years, we’ve been adapting single-family homes to respond to the changing needs of those living within. We have been involved in scaling up, scaling down, childproofing, working from home, aging in place, multi-generational living and generating income. Increased state and local support for ADU’s (additional dwelling units), along with relaxed parking requirements in most jurisdictions, have been useful tools for us as we continually recalibrate our understanding of “home,” and all that it entails.
This whole home and site renovation project in Berkeley converted a simple starter house to a small compound that can expand and contract with the needs of the family over time. The main building was reorganized to add an extra bedroom and bathroom for the growing family without adding new floor area, and to relocate the main living space to the rear of the house where daily activities could easily expand to the outdoors. The existing garage was converted to an ADU, offering a flexible place to stay for extended family and eventually college aged kids.
This was an exercise in making the most of small spaces, both inside and out, by designing creative storage, flexible floor plans, built in home offices and a variety of outdoor living rooms. A site-specific architectural vocabulary was developed for the buildings, as well as the landscape, so that the entire property feels like one cohesive home. We are currently working on many projects like this, incorporating whole site strategies and ADU’s with built-in flexibility and opportunity for growth over time.
SMALL LOTS BIG IMPACTSWe just completed our “Small Lots Big Impacts” design which incorporated ideas about flexible homes that adapt to changing needs over time. The Los Angeles design competition was organized by CityLab UCLA, a multi-disciplinary research center that investigates alternative, socially just ideas about our urban environments by looking for new types of housing that “expand on the multiple benefits of home.” More to come in our next newsletter!
RUTH ASAWAThe Ruth Asawa Retrospective is on display at the SFMOMA until September 2. Asawa, a true multi-disciplinary artist and long-time resident of San Francisco, is best known for her intricate, airy wire sculptures whose shadows become just as beautiful and interesting as the objects themselves. Over 300 pieces of her work are on display, and they are endlessly engaging and inspiring. Tickets can be purchased in advance.
Ruth Asawa