This quartet of projects shows how designers can use Western Window Systems offerings to make the most of available space, by inserting moving glass walls into less-than expected rooms – like kitchens and offices – and augmenting the connection between indoors and out.
Kitchen, dining and living areas flow seamlessly from one space to the next, thanks to this renovation of an Austin, Texas, residence by Clark Richardson Architects. The revamp had two key focal points: expanding the home’s sense of capaciousness while keeping its original footprint and embracing the magnificent views that the original build all but ignored. To that end, the architects not only made the interior communal spaces more fluid, they also opened them up to the backyard – with its views of rolling green hills and sparkling waterfront beyond – thanks to the insertion of a magnificent sliding glass wall manufactured by Western Window Systems. The firm utilized a 90-degree configuration of Series 600 Multi-Slide Doors connected to the window wall to create a corner slider. “That corner slider really makes the space,” says Clark Richardson. “It’s amazing when you open it up and can see all the way from the kitchen to across the property.”
It’s hard to believe this sleek modern house on Phoenix’s famed Camelback Mountain used to be a villa in the Spanish Colonial style. In transforming the residence aesthetically and programmatically as well as to take in more sunlight and views, local firm The Ranch Mine introduced ample glass – including a four-panel stacking multi-slide door that opens from the living area to a resplendent outdoor area with a patio, barbecue and pool – along both stories of the front addition. One of the boldest moves: installing a three-panel window wall between the second-floor master bedroom and an outdoor patio that features an accordion-style steel screen that filters sunlight during the day and can be folded up at night. Even with the southern exposure, the home’s window walls (with low-E glass and aluminum frames) help it achieve an impressive level of energy efficiency.
In updating a cozy home with Spanish Revival and Mediterranean architecture flourishes in the San Fernando Valley, interior designer Emma Oslac Walsh used a variety of modern, energy-saving openings by Western Window Systems. But for oenophiles, it’s the wine cellar that represents the home’s masterstroke. Temperature controlled at 57 degrees, the glass-encased room displays bottles vertically on a taut wire suspension system and features a tasting counter. Rather than a dark space in the basement, Oslac Walsh has brought the wine collection out into the open, and as a vibrant part of the home, where it can be fully appreciated, with the help of Western Window Systems.
K2 Signature Homes also makes use of Western Window Systems throughout this stylish Phoenix home; notably, the Series 600 Multi-Slide Door boldly connects the main living space to the outdoors. The residential developer appreciates Western Window Systems’ thermally broken aluminum frames and high-quality low-E glass as a complement to its classic lines and timeless materials: wood, concrete and metal. The office space, with its raw concrete walls, features a horizontal window that connects it visually with the adjacent area and a sliding glass door that brings it seamlessly onto an outdoor living area. It’s a spatial move that plays on flexible dichotomies – privacy and openness, indoor and outdoor – while providing the inspiring views of nature that make this room a wonderful place to work.
This content was published by Azure on behalf of Western Window Systems.
How designers can use Western Window Systems offerings to transform residential spaces – inside and out.