Moss

Demo day in Bucktown. We’re on site as construction begins on this 3-unit brick building renovation. As architect and general contractor, we’re starting below grade, breaking up the basement slab and excavating to gain additional height. Sound off unless you’re in the mood for jackhammer audio.

In other bird-related architectural and conservation news, because we could all use a dose of good, cute bird content 🐦

The first Piping Plovers of the season have arrived at Montrose Beach. Imani (Chicago-born, son of Monty & Rose), and Pippin of Green Bay, WI (possible nemesis…depending on how the flirting goes this year).

Back in 2021, the Montrose Dune Natural Area expanded to include more protected space for these tiny, resilient birds and the ecosystem around them. All thanks to advocates like Leslie Born, Bob Dolgan, and many others.

Back in 2019, our team at moss took on a speculative exercise: what could Montrose Beach become if we leaned further into its identity as an urban ecological edge?

We imagined:
* a nature center embedded into the landscape
* bird observation towers offering unobstructed views
* permeable pathways replacing hard paving
* rethinking of recreational zones to coexist with habitat

The idea wasn’t to “design over” the site, but to give more of it back, while creating access points for people to engage meaningfully with it.

With Montrose Beach already recognized as a national birding destination, what if we kept going? What if this continued to evolve into a world-class urban refuge, something that draws both locals and visitors, not just for the beach, but for the ecology?

Welcome back, little ones. We’re rooting for you!

→ More on our proposal + renderings at the link in bio

4th photo credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

CROWN HOUSE::: A house brought back together and redefined through material and form.

This Queen Anne was once split into two apartments. Now, it lives as one home again, as a connected, open space shaped around how a family moves through the day.

At the front, the facade is recalibrated: masonry restored, openings refined, entry redefined. At the rear, a new charred-wood volume extends outward, bringing light, landscape, and daily life into closer alignment.

Inside, white oak herringbone runs continuously underfoot, while custom millwork is integrated into the architecture: built-ins, storage, and library elements conceived as fixed volumes rather than applied furniture.

Upstairs, the primary suite settles into a slower pace. The bath is designed as a retreat, with Venetian plaster walls offering a soft, shifting depth, light drawn from above and diffused throughout the space. A Vermont Verde serpentine stone vanity introduces a grounded, quiet richness.

Original details remain throughout, but are held within a quieter, more intentional framework. Design details at link in bio.

What used to be a typical, slightly tragic basement now lives a much better life. A subterranean urban sanctuary, anchored by a modern, glass and steel solar-powered wine cellar with custom walnut cabinetry and travertine detailing. Beyond the glass: a light-filled gym, lounge, wet bar, and spa bath, all operating as one cohesive architectural system. Designed as one cohesive system, from climate control to material continuity.

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