Harrison Design collaborated with Jean Stoffer Design and Rosewood•NB to create a classic kitchen in Arlington complete with a quarter-sawn, white oak island, marble countertops and a Zellige tile backsplash. Photo: Stacy Zarin Goldberg.
 | Discuss the importance of integrating indoor and outdoor spaces.Many homes are built with small windows that limit views and natural light that could otherwise penetrate interiors. A typical home only offers outdoor access through a single door that’s either solid or partially glass. If we live indoors but at the same time cherish our time outdoors, it makes sense that these two environments should be connected. The outdoors may be seen as another room, an extension of the interior. Sunlight, fresh air, blue skies, storm clouds, rain, vegetation and bird song are all elements that have proven to be beneficial to mental health and well-being. —Richard Loosle-Ortega, RA, KUBE Architecture |
 | How does the selection of natural materials elevate a home?We believe the use of natural materials inside and outside imparts authenticity, familiar warmth and wearability. These spaces often improve with age and tie our homes—and ourselves—to the past. For example, a recent kitchen in a custom Arlington home we designed boasts bespoke, painted-wood cabinets with glass fronts. Sunlight dances off the handmade-tile backsplash. We selected floors and a center island in oak, which adds natural warmth and ages well over time. —Mark Hughes, AIA, Harrison Design |
 | What elements do you employ to suggest a sense of timelessness without getting stodgy?Classical architecture is all about proportion and scale, both in relation to individual design elements and the hierarchy of rooms. Once we’ve decided on the importance of a space, we design accordingly in terms of size and complexity of molding profiles and details. From there, I like to identify a compelling focal point and accentuate it with a unique design detail. We accomplished this in a new bathroom by recessing a drop-in tub within an elliptical cased opening. When utilizing traditional forms and details, a little bit can go a long way. —Luke Olson, GTM Architects |
 | Explain how you create architecture that reads traditional, but in a fresh, modern way.A lot of it involves distilling things a bit and playing games with some of the building parts. For instance, we established a light and airy, modern feel in a Georgian-style home we recently completed in McLean with interior designer Darryl Carter. We “dipped” the whole house in white to make it feel more abstract and clean-lined so it is about the details, proportion and play of sunlight. Rather than a typical staircase attached to a wall with a heavy handrail, we designed a freestanding, twisting stair that interjects energy to the foyer. —Anne Decker, AIA, Anne Decker Architects |
 | What drives your exterior material selections?The approach we use in all our projects is simple. Rather than relying on favorite materials, we draw from a list of options to reinforce our design and work with the local environment. Case in point: a new home in an established Rehoboth Beach neighborhood. The property has distinct orientations, one facing a public street and the other, a canal and parkland. We divided the residence into separate wings. The rear one maximizes water views, leading to a more modern aesthetic, while the front one recalls the smaller scale of older, traditional homes in the neighborhood. —Stephen Muse, FAIA, Muse | Kirwan Architects |
 | How do you instill interior architecture with functionality and aesthetic appeal?I see millwork as both functional—it can contain things—and spatial—it can define things. Good millwork always does both. In a recently renovated Georgetown row house overlooking the Potomac River, we orchestrated painted-wood bookshelves installed parallel to the stairway. So climbing the staircase is to climb the shelves through all three levels of the home. The architecture of the shelving is integrated into the bridge structure and the window patterns. In short, millwork can refine and extend the story of a house. —Mark McInturff, FAIA, McInturff Architects |
 | When designing a modern residence, how do traditional influences come into play?Our firm’s work is always influenced by classical architecture. While an Annapolis home we recently completed presents a clean, modern vernacular, its design is rooted in the classic gable form. The V-shaped, sloping roof always conjures traditional homes and agrarian structures. The clustering of pods further reflects the tight grouping of buildings from the way past. The vertical elongation of the center entry gable was intentional so as to be prominent in the overall massing; the glass following the center form re-emphasizes this stretched gable. —Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP, Purple Cherry Architects |
 | Shed light on how a utilitarian space can transcend the everyday.Secondary spaces are very important in reinforcing the intentions and aesthetics that exist in more prominent rooms. A primary dressing room in a home we renovated on the Eastern Shore (left) illustrates this. Warm, natural materials and textures reflect a sense of serenity that prevails in the residence. Linen-covered doors and wool carpeting lower acoustic noise; overhead lighting and a single wall sconce bathe the room in soft light. The simple cabinetry frames an existing window to allow for an aura of quiet and calm. —Colleen Healey, AIA, Colleen Healey Architecture |