RESIDENCE:
MUDROOM ADDITION & SIDE YARD ANNEX, CHICAGO, IL

After acquiring the neighboring lot to the south of their existing home, the owners decided to demolish the outdated structure and utilize the lot as a yard for their existing home. With the prospect of a full side yard, they could trade rear yard space for an addition and asked FDA to design a project to include upgrades to the builder-grade house and a new mudroom entry. FDA developed an approach to the renovation to fix weaknesses of the ten year old infill house and reorient the interior spaces to the large south yard.

Replacing the vinyl siding with new fiber-cement provided an opportunity to improve the insulation of the house from the outside by adding a continuous layer of high-performance rigid insulation (providing a thermal break). The energy savings of improved insulation are combined with new windows and replacement of the old gas furnaces and conventional air conditioners with a ground-source heat pump (geothermal) HVAC system that exchanges heat with the earth via "geothermal wells" drilled at the newly available side yard.

← previous project → next project ← back to work residential work