GRENVILLE STUDIO

A deteriorated brick garage is replaced with with a new fiber cement and timber clad studio-garage, serving as an office for a self-employed technology security consultant. An existing patio is rebuilt and enlarged. The slope of the roof of the studio mimics the slope of the site. The yard is terraced to make a sequence of discreet outdoor rooms. The garage loft, serving as storage for gardening tools, taking advantage of the topography of the site, is accessed from the rear of the garage. In a future phase, the back of the house will be opened up to create a more seamless connection to the patios.

Creating a building…is a process that requires a light touch and a heavy hand, sometimes practically simultaneously…. The challenge is to arrive at the thing that was first imagined, or at least as close to it as possible, while always being aware of the realities of the materials, the earth, people, building codes, and the building itself.
And we built, I think, a masterpiece. Jim [Moses] imagined a building unlike anything else in the neighborhood that also fits into it perfectly. Our property is a slope, it rises almost 100 feet from the street to the back fence, and [the] building follows that slope so that it looks consistent with the main house from the street while giving us 16 foot ceilings on the inside. The materials, the colors, small design elements, all blend in so well that people are excited when they realize what they’re seeing as they get up close to it. I love working in it.

- Michael L., client

Project Details

Location: Watertown, Massachusetts
Client: Private
Size: 650sf
Budget: withheld
Completion: 2025
Consultants: Daniel Bonardi Consulting Engineers (structure); Studio 2112 (landscape) Contractor: MBA Builders