This recently completed project by Andrew Berman Architect was designed as a library and studio for a writer. As you approach the studio, you are greeted by an oversize glass door, with nothing but trees providing a contextual scale for the building.

The building is divided programmatically, with the studio lifted up off the ground (and therefore providing privacy from neighbors), and a storage area located at ground level. With the studio floor situated at the elevation of the tree canopies, a floor to ceiling picture window provides the inhabitant with panoramic views of the wooded area beyond. A building-wide skylight floods the studio with daylight. The exterior of the building is clad in copper, which is meant to weather naturally over the years.

It is legal to have a gas boiler in a design bedroom, but the boiler must be boxed in with fireproof material and have a grill for air to feed the burner.

The Burden family hired green architect Chris Briley, principal ofdesign interior idea, to build their modest dream home in Freeport, Maine, after seeing the amazing work he did on the Aria house in nearby Cumberland