Gravitas is a Custom Home design company.  That’s what we do, or at least, that’s a majority of what we do.  One of the immensely satisfying aspects of our job, is to work with a family, tease out their wants and needs in a new home, balance those needs with the reality of their budget, [...] Read More

One of the many benefits of working with a 3D modeling program such as ArchiCAD, is the ability to see what the final product is going to look like. All too often, the owner/contractor/Architect, doesn’t know exactly how something will look, until it is built in the field.  By that time, any modifications become expensive, [...] Read More

A couple years ago we designed and provided the Construction Drawings for a home for a client of Beaver Creek Log Homes . We worked directly with the owner of Beaver Creek Log Homes,  Robbin Obomsawin. Robbin combines twenty years of log-joinery experience with her knowledge of conventional construction which made for a smooth process [...] Read More

Additional Sustainable Links, credit due to the USGBC for assembling this exhaustive, continuously updated resource: www.USGBC.org Life Cycle Analysis & Costing ATHENA Sustainable Materials Institute BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability) [NIST] BuildingGreen.com – Life Cycle Assessment California Life Cycle Cost Assessment Model ENVEST (environmental impact estimating design software) [UK BRE] LCA Center Life [...] Read More

This contemporary home was built in rural Idaho, to a couple interested in passive solar, and eclectic materials.  The use of corrugated aluminum, raw concrete, and bountiful sunshine, fulfilled their desires, as well as ours. –Rendering– –Video– Floor Plan —To download information about the Gallatin, or Gravitas, click on the boxes above— Technorati Tags: Stock [...] Read More

I am very excited to be working with a young couple in Boise on the design of their home using the Not So Big tenants of Design. This will be an urban infill project in the North End of Boise (our original residential district just North of Downtown). We have been touting Sarah Susanka’s books [...] Read More

  The following is a list of typical steps that owners go through when building their new home. This is also related to remodel projects. You may be able to skip or combine a step, but we have found these to be fairly standard. 1. What are you going to build So you have decided [...] Read More

Boise may be popular in the financial, and lifestyle magazines, but in regards to contemporary architecture, we are not trendsetters. While I greatly admire a lot of what the city has done, moving the ball forward in regards to design has not been a priority. This is a conservative city, and it is definitely a [...] Read More

The following post offers a few points to think about if you’re considering building a log home.  A lot of people get overwhelmed with information at the beginning of this process.  I wrote this a few years ago to help break down the nuts and bolts of log homes.    When a family has decided [...] Read More