Five individual homes in the Department of Hawaiian Homelands development in Kona Hawaii received LEED Gold Certification. The goal was LEED Silver but with our assistance the project beat their goal and achieved Gold. The entire development is built to the same high level and LEED standard. Due to budgetary contrains only one of each model type was formally certified.
Top 25 Architecture Firms - Oahu /
In the Pacific Business News annual report, Green Sand Inc. is ranked amount the top 25 Architecture Firms on Oahu. PBN reports that Green Sand Inc. specializes in sustainable design, residential, retail, medical, LEED management and processing, as well as National Green Building Standard management and processing.
Green Sand Inc. also provides master planning, interior design and furnture design services as well as full service architectural service.
LEED Gold for Five Homes in Waimanalo /
The entire development of Kumuhau in Waimanalo was built to LEED Gold standards. One of each model type was randomly selected for formal LEED certification. Due to bugetary constraints, it was not possible to certied all the homes in the development but the owners of the Department of Hawaiian Homelands homes are thrilled to be living green. The attendance at the LEED training and orientation was outstanding as the new homeowners learned about green features and living green.
Green Sand is awarded the Grand Award at the BIA-Hawaii 25th Annual BIA Renaissance Building and Remodeling Awards 2010 /
J3 is a tenant improvement of a commercial space in the newly revitalized Royal Hawaiian Center in the heart of Waikiki. The project included selective demolition, new interior construction, exterior storefront and fixture design.
J3 represents a new line of jewelry inspired by and shaped by a broad range of influences from Hawaiian culture, gothic and modern jewelry. It is this mix of ideas which lead to the J3 retail concept - a modern yet mysteriously sacred lounge. these seemingly divergent ideas or aesthetics come together to form a beautiful expression of the J3 jewelry.
The overall ambience of the space is dark subdued and softly lit with the exception of the display cases which line either wall. The display cases are glowing with light in high contrast to the muted coloring of the store, drawing you towards the focus of J3 - the jewelry. A tension exists between the clean modern feel of a dance club and ornate details of gothic design.
Designer/Architect: Green Sand
Furniture Designer: Green Sand
Contractor: Mel's Construction
Photographer: Hal Lum, Photography
Rhonda Goyke joins the Board of Directors for the New Hawaiian Home /
Rhonda was asked to join the Board of Directors for the New Hawaiian Home, a demonstration project by the BIA. Rhonda was asked to spearhead the sustainability features of the project and ensure that the project reach LEED Certification as well as the dual certification of the National Green Building Standard. Rhonda provided public workshops and lectures as well as private educaitonal sessions at the BIA for contractors.
Green Sand Inc. featured in the February '09 issue of Honolulu Magazine /
"In one sense, Kahala is one of Oahu's most fertile sources of custom residential architecture. Many of its well-to-do residents pursue interesting, new architect-designed homes. But the neighborhood's high median income also makes it prone to McMansions."
Back to the Future
Entertaining is a snap with this large passthrough between the kitchen and the lanai
area. PHOTO BY: HAL LUM
By Michael Keany
When this couple found an aging mid-century modern house in Kahala, they didn’t tear it down—they lovingly updated it. Turns out the 1950s are looking better than ever.
In one sense, Kahala is one of Oahu’s most fertile sources of custom residential architecture. Many of its well-to-do residents pursue interesting, new architect-designed homes. But the neighborhood’s high median income also makes it prone to McMansions—those glitzy, blue-roofed, dolphin-gated, hermetically sealed palaces that could just as well have been built in San Diego or Scottsdale.
These outsize newcomers are even more noticeable in a neighborhood that originally developed in the 1950s and ’60s under tight strictures from landowner Bishop Estate. Back then, leasehold provisions specified single-story homes, 25-foot setbacks from the street and 12-foot setbacks from each of the properties’ side borders. This ensured a cohesive feel for Kahala, and guided the sleek modern style being developed by influential Hawaii architects such as Vladimir Ossipoff, Ernie Hara and Frank Haines.
The bathrooms in this house aren't as large as in many modern Kahala homes, but the exposed ceilings manage to give each room an expansive feel.
PHOTO BY: HAL LUM
As leasehold Kahala properties converted to fee simple, the restrictions disappeared, opening the door for larger visions of luxury, but many still look back fondly on the mid-century modern look that once defined Kahala.
When Bill and Cindy Jarvis moved to Hawaii from Berkeley Hills, Calif., four years ago, they were looking for just that kind of 1950s ranch-style home. “I knew I wanted something single-story, with a horizontal, relaxed feel,” says Cindy. “Something that reminded me of my aunties’ and uncles’ houses when I would visit here as a child.”
Furthermore, they wanted the real thing, not a newly minted facsimile. The object of their search turned out to be harder than they expected to find—Cindy recalls investigating more than 80 homes—but when they walked into this Kahala house, it was obvious that they had found what they were looking for. “We instantly fell in love with it,” she says. “We didn’t even see the whole house, we just had this reaction to it.”
As it turned out, the house had a great pedigree—it had been designed and owned by noted Hawaii architect Frank Haines (Coincidentally, we recently spoke to Haines for our December issue in connection with the work he did for the new edition of Architecture in Hawaii.).
The house, completed in 1956, was a great example of the kind of low-profile, cleanly designed residential work Haines did in the 1950s before he turned his attention primarily to commercial architecture as a partner of local firm Architects Hawaii. As a bonus, the structure was in reasonably good shape; not too much termite damage, and recently re-roofed to boot.
Walking through the front door leads directly into this covered lanai
area—true indoor/outdoor living. PHOTO BY: HAL LUM
The bones of the place were great, but the Jarvises did want to reconfigure and modernize it. Haines had expanded the house over the years to accommodate his growing family, and Bill and Cindy needed something that would more closely suit their life as a couple.
Architect Matthew Goyke of Green Sands Inc. says he jumped at the chance to renovate and update the house. “Those guys in the early ’50s were pretty exploratory, in terms of using what was available, reinterpreting the modern movements of the early 1900s with the new materials that were available,” he says.
In a sense, this remodel was a continuation of that spirit—the Jarvises tasked Goyke with maintaining the original feel of the place while incorporating materials more suited to the new millennium. “It was not hard at all to update this place,” Goyke says. “It’s a very modern-feeling home, thanks to the post-and-beam construction. The big design decision here was not to tear the house down. From that, everything else kind of flowed naturally.”
Architect Goyke plastered over the end wall in the living room, covering over the CMU blocks that had been there previously. PHOTO BY: HAL LUM
The largest changes, in fact, were functional ones. The look of the 1950s may be timeless, but a lot of other things have changed since then.
In its original ’56 layout, for example, the kitchen had a relatively isolated, galley-style design, with adjacent living quarters for a live-in maid. Par for the course in a custom home half-a-century ago, maybe, but not as useful these days, when the kitchen has become the de-facto meeting place and control center of the home.
Goyke converted the kitchen into a more open, social configuration, expanding the pass-through that looks out onto the lanai, and arranging the room around a small kitchen island. Open and social requires more space, of course, which Goyke obtained by extending out the kitchen and laundry room (the once-maid’s quarters) by six feet—a total gain of 187 square feet.
The living room in its original 1950s incarnation.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF FRANK HAINES
In addition to opening up the kitchen area, Goyke streamlined the flow throughout the house by replacing conventional wooden interior doors with sliding aluminum ones. “There were a lot of swinging doors, and they were just kind of an obstruction,” he says. “We pocketed the doors away, or had them slide along the wall and become part of the aesthetic. Now there’s all sorts of layering if you look through from one area to the next.”
In some cases, maintaining Haines’ minimalist style in the redesign took a lot of extra work. Take the ceiling, for example—one of the home’s most prominent design features. Exposed rafters are contrasted by cedar sheathing that boasts a distinctive combed finish. When it came time to expand the kitchen, the Jarvises discovered that combed cedar—once so in vogue—was no longer available. Undeterred, they commissioned a tool that could carve the desired texture into new cedar sheathing.
By expanding the kitchen wall by six feet, Goyke transformed the kitchen from a galley layout to an open, spacious one. PHOTO BY: HAL LUM
The decision to stay with an exposed ceiling also required some clever engineering to make the home more livable in sunny Kahala. “It would have helped the overall environmental, thermal qualities of the house if we had insulated the ceiling,” says Goyke. “But we didn’t want to cover up these exposed beams, in fact we wanted to accentuate them.”
To that end, Goyke installed several ventilated cupolas that allow hot air to escape naturally, while remaining low-profile and weather-proof.
Even the floors involved more work than meets the eye. The Jarvises ripped up all the carpeting and tiling throughout the house in favor of a chic, bare concrete look, but it turned out that the foundation slab, after 50 years, had shimmied and shifted subtly, rendering it not quite level. The contractor rectified the situation with a leveling coat of concrete ranging from a quarter-inch to an inch-and-a-half thick, and then another microtopping to give the floor an attractive finish.
Painting the rafters in a contrasting color turns the exposed ceiling into one of the house's central design elements. PHOTO BY: HAL LUM
In the end, Bill and Cindy were left with a house that remains very much in the spirit of Haines’ original vision. The entryway still leads directly into an open lanai area that overlooks the backyard and pool. The living room is still wide open, comprising little more than a roof and sliding glass.
They even got Haines’ seal of approval, inviting him over for dinner and a look-see once everything had been completed. Haines says he’s very happy with his former home’s new look. “So many of these new houses in Kahala are just irrelevant to the area,” he says. “You see these places with fabulous entryways that look as if you were going to drive up to them in a carriage. We had exactly the opposite philosophy when building our home, and this is very much in line with that.”
Architect: Green Sand Inc., 457-1360.
Contractor: Emery Construction Inc., 263-2218.
Green Sand Inc. wins Grand Award at the BIA-Hawaii 24th Annual BIA Renaissance Building and Remodeling Awards 2009 /
Island Vintage Coffee is a space alteration and renovation within the newly revitalized Royal Hawaiian Center. This project included selective demolition, interior renovation, exterior storefront and fixture design. Island Vintage Coffee offers freshly roasted premium coffee from the Islands, packaged and brewed, including 100% Kona. The owner wanted to create a new image and brand for his stores to embody the spirit of his product. To capture a relaxed feeling, a Kahala cottage circa 1930 painted white with a patina roof was the basis of design, an image to connect the premium product to a vintage time. The main entry facing Kalakaua uses an iconic curved eyebrow with exposed rafters. The copper veneer asphalt shingle roof has an acid wash patina finish, simple shaker style detailing and warm lighting are throughout the space to create a comfortable oasis in Waikiki.
Designer/Architect: Green Sand Inc
Fixture Designer: Green Sand Inc.
Contractor: Dae Ho Builders
Photographer: Hal Lum
BIA Division/Category: Commercial Remodeling Projects under 5,000 sq. ft.
Green Sand Inc. wins Overall Grand Award at the BIA-Hawaii 24th Annual BIA Renaissance Building and Remodeling Awards 2009 /
The owners felt this 1956 single story home had great bones. With that in mind the owner's chose not to tear it down and instead wanted to reconfigure and modernize the home creating spaces that would more closely suit their lifestyle.
The mid century architects were exploring what it meant to live in Hawaii and using techniques and materials available at that time. This post and beam home is a result of that exploration. Green Sand Inc. chose to add to these great bones by introducing materials of today and reinterpreting the modern movement of the early 1900's. The big decision in this project was to not tear the house down. Green Sand Inc. and the owner's wanted to lovingly preserve the scale and character of the home and neighborhood. Green Sand Inc. converted the kitchen into a more open, social configuration, expanding the pass-through that looks out onto the lanai, and arranging the room around a small kitchen island. The bedroom wing was significantly reconfigured to enlarge the master bedroom, add a walk in closet and relocate the second bathroom. Three roof cupolas were added to allow the home to breathe and release hot air from the vaulted ceiling area.
Designer/Architect: Green Sand Inc
Furniture Designer: Green Sand Inc.
Contractor: Emery Construction
Photographer: Hal Lum
BIA Division/Category: Residential Remodeling $150,001 to $350,000
Rhonda Goyke provides a Lecture at Design Within Reach /
Rhonda Goyke provided an overview regarding sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficient, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Matthew and Rhonda Goyke speak at the Hawaii Buildings, Facilities & Property Management Expo /
honda Goyke provided an overview of the US Green Building Council and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program, and highlights of LEED-related activities underway in Hawaii.
