Carleton Design » Product

Friend of Faux

tjc — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:31:07 +0000

Those of you who have visited our office may have seen the impressive wall mural painted by Christine Sorensen. We asked her about her work in faux finishes, decorative painting (even furniture), murals and commissioned canvases.

Q: Where would we see your work?
A: I work mostly in private residences, but also in commercial settings. My passion is to transform homes by bringing beauty and harmony of colors. I have been blessed with artistic discernment, a profusion of creativity, and ideas which many local designers have used and enjoyed. My work is very detailed, clean and goes far beyond anything seen in the field of decorative painting.

Q: Where does your influences come from?
A: My influence is European. French and Italian masters have been my inspiration, plus the revealed beauty found in nature. I love working with my clients, using their ideas, or being given the freedom to bring my own thoughts, so that every project will harmonize perfectly its surroundings.

Q: What sets your work apart?
A: My clients appreciate my strong sense of nuances and choosing the rights colors. My wall glazing (interior and exterior) have dressed many houses, adding true elegance and life. It is more than just good technique.

Q: How long have you been doing your artwork?
A: I have been in business for nine years on the Monterey Peninsula and throughout California. A large sample of my work can be viewed on my website.

Christine Sorensen, owner of A French Touch, can be reached at (831) 883-2968 and www.afrenchtouch.net.

-TJC

Mural by Christine Sorensen

Keeping It Together

tjc — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:54:40 +0000

We have all seen TV coverage of houses collapsing in hurricanes; plywood sheets flying in tornadoes, and roofs peeling off in high winds. After each natural disaster, officials investigate the cause of structural failures and rewrite the building codes to lessen future damage. The current state building codes require parts of new houses to be reinforced against high winds and earth tremors. When wood buildings are framed, carpenters now install metal plates to connect roof rafters to tops of walls, appropriately nicknamed “hurricane clips.” Wood walls are connected to the concrete foundation with anchor bolts and “hold downs.” Window openings in walls are reinforced with long metal straps. The sides of garage door openings are strengthened with metal frames intended to resist twisting or crumbling. Numerous connections are now required to reinforce houses so that they survive the inevitable “big one.” It is the little things that count.

Under Construction

-TJC

Creative Fuel

James Carleton — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:18:10 +0000

My favorite aspect of architecture, and design in general, is creativity. A new emphasis on green design and high tech materials has spawned a slew of inspiring ideas. I have collected some examples that range from weird to genius, but all are creative.

-James Carleton

My Summer Vacation

tjc — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:18:41 +0000

Dymaxion House

Do you remember returning to school in the fall and being asked by your teacher to write an essay on “What I did on my summer vacation?” You should not be surprised that I spent some of my vacation time looking at buildings. While attending a family reunion in Michigan, we visited the famous Henry Ford Museum. To my delight, they had assembled a round aluminum house designed by R. Buckminster Fuller. This unique design was Bucky’s attempt to provide mass-produced, affordable housing after World War II. The structure is suspended from a central mast without a perimeter foundation, “like an umbrella” our guide explained, while pointing to a rotating vent on the roof that supplied fresh air. Another curiosity is the one-piece molded bathroom, “similar to what might have been used on a Navy ship at that time.” The museum literature explains that in 1946, disagreements between Fuller and his associates led to the collapse of the company after just two prototypes were built. This exhibit is the only surviving example of the “Dymaxion House, a dwelling machine.”
-TJC

More information:

Henry Ford Muesum Dymaxion Exhibit Website
Wikipedia article: Dymaxion House
You Tube Video: Dymaxion House

Green: Insulation

James Carleton — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:36:13 +0000

Green building is a popular movement in our industry which aims to change how buildings are designed and built. Green buildings are designed to reduce environmental costs, last longer, and provide health and comfort to their users.

Spray Foam Insulation

An important aspect of a green building is energy conservation. In order to build an energy efficient building, insulation should be an important aspect of the design. The performance of heating and cooling systems is dependent on the building’s ability to retain the conditioned air. When you think insulation you probably picture the pink fiberglass material. While this type of insulation is widely used, it is often inadequate. Tests have shown that even the smallest gap or perforation in standard batt insulation can dramatically reduce its effectiveness due to air infiltration.

The green building trend has brought attention to this topic and new solutions have developed. Consider alternative materials like recycled denim, newspapers, or wool. These materials take less energy to produce and don’t add to the interior air pollution like other products. In order to better seal your building consider a spray foam material. For example BioBased 501 is a soybean oil-based polyurethane foam that is sprayed and adapts to the shape of the wall cavity. It works great around pipes, wires, and other items in the wall to seal the space and prevent any air infiltration.

Smart insulation choices can make a big impact on the health, comfort and efficiency of your building.

-James Carleton, LEED AP

More information:

Types of Insulation: DIY Network
Article: Enviornmental Design+Construction Magazine
Cotton Insulation
Wool Insulation
Newspaper Insulation
BioBased Systems
Icynene Insulation System

Explore the green building section of our website.
Please Note: The products and companies listed are for reference only are not expressly recommended by Thomas J. Carleton Architecture. Please inform us if you have questions about the value of a product or company represented to assist us in providing the best information possible.

Tile Design

tjc — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:01:29 +0000

Travertine/Glass Tile, Corain Burled Beach Countertop.

Tilework has significantly grown as an art and craft with a wider selection of materials and patterns. In our own kitchen remodel, Costel Coernocut (831-595-0438) installed travertine squares cut into 4×6 tiles laid in a brick pattern for the backsplash. Decorative glass tiles were salvaged from another jobsite and set in a horizontal band. For the countertop, we chose a new pattern, “Burled Beach,” offered by Corian, a lightweight synthetic material. Our new kitchen floor has larger travertine tile squares. Travertine is a natural stone imported from Italy. According to Wikipedia, it is the same material used to build the Coliseum in Rome and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, so our modest kitchen is in good company.

New From Old

James Carleton — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:00:25 +0000

Green building is a popular movement in our industry which aims to reduce the negative impacts a building has on the environment and its occupants. An important aspect of a green building is conserving natural resources. Many legendary structures have been built using beautiful wood elements. Picture the massive beams of The Ahwahnee in Yosemite, Asilomar’s Merrill Hall, or any other example of the great craftsmanship used to create beautiful wood structures throughout history.
A clever way to reduce the impact of new wood in your building and add architectural heritage is to use re-claimed wood. Several companies specialize in collecting wood from older structures and selling it for new uses. Wood can be re-claimed from buildings, bridges, logging rivers, sunken forests, wine barrels and other sources. Re-claimed wood often is from old growth trees which can have superior strength and beauty. It can be used for structural beams, posts, siding, paneling, flooring, decking, cabinetry and more.

-James Carleton, LEED AP

More information:
BuildingGreen.com: Reclaimed Wood
Wikipedia: Reclaimed Wood
Terra Mai Re-claimed Wood
Black’s Farmwood
Crossroads Recycled Wood

Paint It Green

James Carleton — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:38:24 +0000

Green building is a popular movement in our industry which aims to reduce the negative impacts a building has on the environment and its occupants. An important aspect of a green building is indoor air quality. Simple material choices can have a big impact on the health of the air and the people in a building.

The most common measurement of the quality of indoor air is the amount of volatile organic compounds. VOC’s are organic chemical compounds from building materials which vaporize into the atmosphere in a building and can be breathed in by humans. The EPA says VOC’s can cause “Eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system.” If that doesn’t scare you they have also have found that some VOC’s cause certain types of cancer. Although not every building has the extreme conditions to cause these ailments, the building materials that conribute to VOCs are commonplace.

The good news is VOC’s are easy to eliminate in your building. Many manufacturers are now offering low or zero VOC finishes such as plaster, paint, stains, adhesives, rugs, carpets, tile, sheet flooring, laminates and hardwood. The simplest change you can make is the type of paint you use. Major paint brands now have an alternate line available that is low or zero VOC and many smaller brands specialize in zero VOC products. These paints look and work just like normal paints and have a similar cost, but they don’t bring in the problems that regular paint’s VOC’s add to your building. I used zero VOC paints in my own home and am glad to know our family is not inhaling extra contaminates every day. Next time your choosing finish materials, consider their VOC content and the health of your building’s occupants.

-James Carleton, LEED AP

More information:
EPA: volatile organic compounds
AMF Safecoat
Sherwin Williams Harmony
Benjamin Moore EcoSpec
Old Fashioned Milk Paints
American Clay Natural Plaster

Explore the green building section of our website at www.tjcaia.com/green

Please Note: The products and companies listed are for reference only are not expressly recommended by Thomas J. Carleton Architecture. Please inform us if you have questions about the value of a product or company represented to assist us in providing the best information possible.