Project Description
2012 RADA
Renovation / Merit
The jury singled out this project for its restraint. David Dowell, AIA, left well enough alone, executing a simple interior renovation, but one “that marks itself on the outside of the building and transforms the exterior,” a judge said. For clients wanting a playroom, Dowell wrapped the inside of the oversized garage roof volume in 100-year-old sinker cypress, extruding the “tube”—a platonic house shape—as an exterior balcony.
On the front of the house, he also carved a boy’s bedroom out of attic space by nudging the recessed roofline forward and adding a dormer with a glass front and ceiling. “It’s tough to get contemporary renovations through Leawood,” Dowell says, “but we had a very easy time. They were thrilled that the Tylers weren’t maxing out the build line.”