2025 Award Winner - addition, remodel, or adaptive reuse
a light filled addition
Portland, Maine • Completed June 2022
Project Team:
Residential Design: Maines Design, Mike Maines
Builder: O’Brien Wood & Iron, Mat O’Brien
Insulation: Casco Bay Insulation, Jon Riley
Project Description:
A family was bursting at the seams in their 1960s ranch house but they were strongly attached to their large, wooded corner lot in a family-friendly neighborhood. Adding a primary suite and away spaces would allow them to continue to enjoy their location.
We turned the existing primary bedroom into a study that doubles as circulation space to a den, which doubles as a guest room, and to a primary suite with a recessed “away space” used for yoga, music and art.
The owners wanted morning sunlight, which did not fit with the northwest orientation, and relief from the low ceilings in the rest of the house. We designed a tower-like dormer that keeps the space brightly lit from morning to evening, provides ample wall space for art and sense of being outdoors. A light shelf at the center of the bank of south-facing windows bounces light up to the ceiling where it illuminates the bedroom with a soft glow year-round.
On the exterior, the goal was to make the addition feel modern and natural, but not out of place next to the existing home. We kept the scale and proportions similar to the house, while the pop-up dormer that is just visible from the road hints at the addition’s character. The dormer roof is visually lightened by soffits angling up to a narrow fascia. The walls are clad with Maine-sourced white cedar over a rainscreen, left to weather naturally.
Project Metrics:
Original house: 3 BR / 1 BA; 1,528 sq ft
With addition: 3 BR plus flex room / 2 BA; 2,302 sq ft.
The building envelope is high-performance with low embodied carbon emissions: gusseted rafters with R-60 dense-packed cellulose, 2x8 studs with R-25 cellulose and a crawlspace foundation with R-20 polyisocyanurate on the walls and EPS on the floor. Construction is airtight at 0.17 ACH50. Heating and cooling is via a mini-split heat pump system. An ERV provides balanced ventilation.
Highlights from the Judges:
“This submission hit many of the key factors: balanced, active ventilation; electrification; low-carbon/carbon-storing insulation; recycled material, local material and non-toxic finish; architectural/aesthetic consideration; daylighting. ...A sensitive, thoughtful addition, done with best practices in mind.”