We’re excited to share one of our recently completed projects! The project included a new pergola for the back patio and a new construction metal building to be used as a wood shop.
The benefits of spending time in nature are astounding: lowering stress, reducing blood pressure and heart rate, and feeling better emotionally.
Our goal at Stearns is to ensure a seamless transition between nature and residential design. This is why we love creating outdoor spaces for clients!
The clients have a lovely custom-built home on a sizable amount of land, but they desired to make their back patio space more useable throughout the year. With these goals in mind, we created two new areas for our clients to enjoy.
Let’s start with the pergola addition!
In its existing state, the patio was just a concrete pad that was rarely used and had no shade. This area proved to be quite the design challenge as the client’s roof contained many unique angles and slopes. They wanted the new covering to fit cohesively with the house and not look like a second addition added at a later date, which made it a bit more complicated to create a new roof structure.
Another factor that made this project tricky was the patio’s shape. It wasn’t shaped like a square, so we decided to design a custom pergola for the space instead of integrating an expensive and complicated roofed patio.
In order to have a seamless design transition between the pergola height and the house’s roofline, we matched the pergola’s height to the house’s roofline, ultimately stretching the edges to be as close to the house as possible.
We also designed the pergola to match the edges of the patio itself. Finally, to give it a more modern design to match the style of the house, we hid the top slats with face plates on the sides so the pergola would look more box-like with no overhangs.
We used solar shade studies to determine the size and spacing of the top slats to maximize the shading capability of the pergola.
This protects the area from the western sun all year round. To further increase shading capability, we added a custom lattice to the west side of the pergola. This lattice provides more shade and space to grow plants or hang decorative elements. To make it more comfortable to use in warmer months, we installed a ceiling fan in the center of the pergola to help cool the space. Lastly, we stained the pergola a lovely warm red color to match the home’s style.
In addition to the patio project, they wanted a larger and more efficient space to use and store their woodworking tools. We built a brand-new metal building on their property! The previous location for the woodworking was the garage, but it was small, and the machinery took up storage space designated for cars.
We decided to create a whole new space for his woodworking. The building measured 30 feet by 30 feet, which produced 900 square feet of space for the clients to use for all their woodworking needs. We also installed a garage door, a man door, and four windows to make the area look less like a shed and more custom to match the other elements. There are so many beautiful trees on the property, so having the ability to see them through the windows inspires creativity and increases happiness.
Before we began building the wood shop, the clients wanted to save as many trees as possible; we up-cycled all of the post oak trees by taking them to our local sawmill, Tekton Timber. They cut the trees into 5/4 live-edge slabs, which turned out perfectly.
Inside, we created space for wood storage for added functionality and installed a small air-conditioner to make the room more comfortable during the warmer times of the year. We wanted to be sure to tie the design of the building to the main house, so we used various shades of cool gray colors on the walls and roof, which mimic colors found on the brick and top of the main house.
The design of the building is simplistic and clean, which is what the clients desired! However, they needed a bigger, more functional space to work in, which is precisely what the new building provided. The clients were delighted with how the project turned out. We love knowing that these new spaces will be used for years to come.
