Services

Category: Services

Work performed by Harper Construction & Renovation, LLC

Skylights Bring in Space as Well as Light

Skylights are such a blessing in the Northwest were we are hungry for the sun on so many winter days. We added several to our own home, and we all really benefit from the light.

The client that requested the windows pictured here spends a lot of time in sunny Bend and grew up in California so she really misses the sun. When we were done she had lots of sun and an added sense of space in her kitchen. With no room to go out, going up through the attic with the skylight shaft adds the feel of additional square footage.

There is some interesting geometry contained in the walls of the skylight shafts of the kitchen and stairwell lights because the ceiling openings were made larger than the windows to allow for added light entry. The alternative would have been to make the ceiling opening a polygon without square corners, but because of the proximity of the cabinets in the kitchen and the walls in the stairwell, square lines provided a better design.

The kitchen skylights had the added benefit of being operable so the kitchen can be easily vented on those occasional hot days or when that accidental pot overheats. We have done many projects for this client over the years and she says the skylights were by far the best investment!

 

Alameda Pergola

Pergolas and other outdoor structures are a great addition to any home.  These additions can be a way of expanding your living space to include the outdoors. This Pergola was built in Alameda for our client who wanted to ground her home to her backyard. Her existing patio provided a place for outdoor gatherings but the house loomed large overhead and dwarfed the backyard. She had several pictures that provided a starting point. We then walked her yard and looked at the architectural features of the home so we could incorporate the existing design. We discussed the connection to the house and the window that provided a challenge. How best could we provide the height to fit the scale of the house and not make the overlap look forced?

3-D Drawing of Pergola

Then after defining her budget we developed a plan with the structure that fit her sense of design built with materials that met her financial goals. By creating a three-dimensional drawing she was able to see clearly how the Pergola would intercept the existing window and how the scale would fit with the house.