The “three R’s” we learned about in school still pertain today. How do our municipal programs to “divert” waste from landfills work toward zero waste
Materials
How We Operate: Finding Beauty in the (Honesty of) Reclaimed Building Materials
In the collage above are just a SMALL SAMPLE of our favorite uses of reclaimed wood in moss projects (from top left): Bowling Alley Bench, Begyle Tasting Room, Brew, Bar Pastoral, 2 Sparrows, and Erie Street Loft. Keep reading to see why and how we seek to use reclaimed wood products as often as possible. It is a truth pretty universally acknowledged […]
Spencer’s Jolly Posh Complete and Open for Brunch, Tea, and Dinner in Quirky British Style
We’re thrilled to share with you the snappy snaps of our latest completed project: the newly relocated Spencer’s Jolly Posh Foods on Southport.
Beat the Heat WITHOUT AC: Passive Cooling and YOU
Now we remember what summer heat in Chicago feels like. To keep cool without overheating the environment, here are a few passive cooling ideas to consider.
How We Operate: Why we Love our Furniture Division
Its a pretty well known fact that architects like to design furniture as well as buildings. Some pieces are dramatic, site specific one-offs, and others have become by-words in furniture design, instantly recognizable to any lay person, even if not always by designer. Curbed recently set up a slideshow to pose just that challenge to […]
Out of the Woodshop: Bowling Alley Console
We’d like to introduce the Bowling Alley Console, big sib to our much beloved Bowling Alley Bench. If you want to adopt it and take it home, click here! Like so many of our most beautiful furniture items and interior finishes, this is wood sourced from a demolished building and RE-purposed. For us, working with […]
Low Flow Fixtures 101: or How to Save 11,000 Gallons of Water in 5 Minutes
What ARE low flow fixtures? Read all about them and meet your new friend the WaterSense certified aerator, which you can install in your own faucet in five minutes.
Four Principles of a Clean, Green Bathroom Update
Four Tips for a Green Bathroom Remodel: Choose Water Saving Fixtures, Maximize Daylight, Incorporate Recycled and Upcycled Materials and Keep Toxins Out!
Green Construction: What You Should Know About VOCs in your Home Improvement Project
Starting a home improvement project bumps the odds of bringing VOCs inside WAY up unless you are explicitly planning to avoid them. Here’s how you can.
We give an old Amish chest a makeover
Laura found this Amish chest at the Kane State County Fair in 2000, and loved the vintage hardware and cool aesthetic of a wooden trunk. However, the chest had seen better days: dilapidated and moisture-stained, it needed some refurbishment. We intrepidly (well, mostly Laura) sanded the chest on the back porch, revealing a lovely layer […]
How to save money on taxes by being energy efficient
It’s tax season again, and we could all use a break. Luckily there are some financial breaks related to energy saving components of your house or building that you might not have been aware of, recently brought to light by the IRS. Under 179D deductions, you can claim deductions on any project or addition that meets […]
A Look into the Architectural Process: Wild Blossom Meadery
Our new project, Wild Blossom, will be Chicago’s first meadery. Believed to be the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage, mead is a drink made by fermenting honey with yeast. Read more about mead at Wild Blossom’s website and then engage with this great interactive display on how mead travels from bee to bottle at Maine Mead Works. […]
Out of the Woodshop: Reclaimed Bowling Lane Bench
Our first finished project from our two Indiana reclaimed bowling lane is a bench/console, perfect for sitting, reading, and displaying a TV, record player, or anything you don’t want on the floor.
In the Woodshop: Reclaimed Bowling Lanes: UPDATED 1/18/13
We recently acquired some reclaimed bowling lane wood for our furniture projects. Come see what we’ve created with it in our woodshop!
moss' Parklet in Inhabitat
Our parklet is featured in Inhabitat! See the article here. Check out our project progress report here from just last week.