Project overview: This small residential renovation shows how precise design can bring meaningful change within strict physical and regulatory limits. The project takes place in a compact 28-by-28-foot split-level home built in 1947. After two design sessions, the family’s priority was set: add a second full bathroom for their three growing children by splitting the existing bath—without expanding the footprint, which would have triggered zoning and planning review due to nonconforming setbacks.
Every inch of volume was leveraged. The original bath became two narrow baths: one for the primary bedroom and one for the children. The children’s bath was further divided into three zones—sink, toilet, and shower—allowing multiple users at once. Skylight shafts cut through unused attic space bring daylight into each bathroom, while recessed mirrored cabinets distribute light and extend views over Brookline and Brighton from the home’s position atop Corey Hill.
A new nine-inch-thick wall between bathrooms houses plumbing and concealed cabinetry, balancing technical and storage needs. The stair balustrade was reconfigured, using vertical plywood fins pinned with concealed metal connectors. Acting as a unified guard system, the fins maintain openness while adding rhythm and vertical continuity between floors.
By relying on standard materials like plywood and maximizing the existing structure, the project achieves an environmentally responsible approach without premium resources. Modest in scale yet deliberate in execution, it demonstrates how small interventions can generate new program, integrate light in constrained interiors, and embody design rigor and spatial inventiveness within typical residential budgets.
Project location: Brookline, Massachusetts
Firm name:FISH DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE LLC
Completion: 2023
Jury comments: This addition to a historic house thoughtfully balances old and new, blending seamlessly into the streetscape while enriching everyday residential life. Subtle, strategic moves such as the light well, glass-enclosed passage, and cantilevered wood-frame volume address privacy, daylight, and phased construction, though the roof openings don’t fully animate the interior.
Images/Photographers:Ryan Maheu, Myoungkeun Kim General Contractor:SK Construction Lighting:Reflex Lighting
