Design-driven build

from The Custom Build 2020

The Prairie, Midcentury retreats

Designdriven build

OImages courtesy Zahn Builders and Lucid Architecture On a shallow lakeside lot in Harbor Springs, Michigan, several moving parts behind a residential new build are currently interlinking, coming together to create an ultra-modern, vacation residence for a hard-working Grand Rapids couple familiar with the art of building. The clients, one of whom is a construction leader in the western Michigan region, sought a new waterfront vacation home that would eventually double as a permanent oasis upon their retirement. Also a respected construction professional in West Michigan, Tony Zahn, founder and president of Zahn Builders Inc. of Holland, Michigan, considered it an honor to craft a custom residence for the couple, using the fullest extent of the building firm’s in-house capabilities. “They had vacationed in Harbor Springs for many years with their family. This was a Grand Rapids couple and we had a rapport with their architect, Lucid Architecture, and also had rapport in that we had built numerous homes for acquaintances of theirs and they wanted to go with a builder that they knew and had confidence in,” Zahn said. “Their goal was to basically build their retirement home early.”

The team

As someone who grew up in Holland, a city in the western Michigan region tucked around the coast of Lake Macatawa, and just off the shore of Lake Michigan, Tony Zahn has long seen the planning and building of generational family homes that live on to be legacy spaces. The area holds a strong, multi-generational vein of craftsmanship that spans from construction to furnishings and a general manufacturing leaning; and seeing the residential building process in action was a great influence on Zahn’s own approach to home building.

The firm itself has been built into a regional mainstay known for its scale-of-ability, which is supported by an 11,000-squarefoot office and woodshop, and a 30-member team of carpenters and craftspeople who regularly self-perform carpentry work and are committed to continued education within the field. This team only takes on between six and 10 projects at a time to fully invest resources in its clients, who also benefit from a dedicated project manager for their building project.

Zahn’s approach to cultivating a luxury home building business is manifested in the rapport it has created throughout its service areas and the several awards it has collected throughout the last decade, including four

of which featured a partnership with Lucid Architecture, the Zeeland-based architecture firm behind the design for the modern Harbor Springs vacation home currently under construction.

Lucid Architecture is steeped in a modern design aesthetic that transforms verdant breezy coastlines and bordered urban areas alike, and Zahn Builders is an expert in executing modern design plans on lake-side settings. A distinctly modern home characterized by flat rooflines and an earthy mix of internal and external materials like glass, steel, and concrete, the Harbor Springs home design emphasizes its own structure as part of the aesthetic appeal, not as something concealed in other constructed parts. Despite the work that the exterior does to be a striking design statement on the waterfront, secondary spaces like sleeping quarters needed to be more unassuming in the inner body.

“I think one of the reasons [the clients] chose us was they wanted a builder who was experienced in modernism,” Zahn said. “This is a very design-driven, structurally complex home with a lot of steel, glass, and flat roofs.”

Highly design-driven projects such as these populate the Zahn portfolio, where

one can find residences executed exquisitely in warm wood and fogged glass that breathe an ultra-modern air into their lakeside surroundings, and contemporary takes on both new and historic farmhouse-style villas in the same settings. Unique features can double indoors, which for the Zahn team, have featured everything from bowling alleys and underground tunnels to shooting rang- es, hidden nooks, wine cellars, and custom swimming pools.

In fact, Zahn more recently finished a custom home of his own on the Lake Michi- gan shoreline that includes a tunnel feature; and to-date, he has built seven of his own custom homes, an added benefit for connecting with prospective clients through hands-on experience with the steps they take to reach their residential goals.

“I think the other reason [the clients] chose us is based on our Lake Michigan experience; I would say almost half of our work has been on Lake Michigan in the past 20 years. Knowing that, it made us a natural fit for the project,” Zahn said. “This is a very shallow, long, linear lot in Harbor Springs. It’s a really special spot, but also due to the shallowness of the lot, the home was being built very close to the water, and that’s part of the energy of the whole home.”

Design and materiality

Even as it is still being constructed, it is clear to see the ways architectural modernism and natural landscape interact to charge the surroundings with a special appeal. The design, according to architect Eric De Witt, AIA, architect and owner of Lucid Archi- tecture, is intended to embrace the rugged landscape of the site and shelter occupants, while connecting them to it simultaneously; and this was done through materials, massing, and positioning on the site.

A relatively low-profile design, the home is anchored to the natural landscape in linear, horizontal massing, but breathes outward in expanses of glass that the team counters with privacy measures like care- fully positioned sheaths of concrete. Natural privacy is found in surrounding tree coverage, which the Zahn team was particularly careful to keep between the lake and the home.

The warm, woodsy demeanor is mir- rored across structural finishes like wood ceilings in the kitchen, living room, and dining room, and accompanying ceiling beams; as well as wood floors and sustain- able, durable, Kebony cladding.

From the two bedrooms and office on the lower level, which is unified by a poured salt-and-pepper concrete floor, the home- owners can walk out and down to the beach just beyond. The main level, which houses another two bedrooms, includes several complexities that created a unique building program for the Zahn team, such as the two monolithic cast-concrete fireplaces that serve as the bookends of the home, according to Zahn. A typical project for Zahn can involve creating specialized mock-ups of on-site features to detail dimensions and an approach to creating them. This project was similar in that the team made several mockups of the fireplaces to achieve the correct flow of the concrete massing, which extends outward into different feature walls around the home.

“One thing that’s unique about us, is

we self-perform the majority of carpentry in-house and we have our woodshop where we do a lot of mock-ups for clients. I think that’s very important to do, especially with these design-driven homes where we’re really pushing the envelope and we want to use materials that people don’t see every day,” Zahn said. “We want to do mockups for the clients that they can touch and feel and then really feel confident about what it’s going to look like.”

The lakeside wall of the living room comprises a custom, Douglas fir, curtainwall window system rising 14 feet. As an expansive joining of concrete, glass, and steel, the system requires inflexible construction tolerances as the structure continues to come together. The living areas on the main level are joined by a special, three-season covered outdoor living area and a transition from indoors to decking that overlooks the scenic vista. For the roof system itself, Zahn worked structural insulated panels that promote energy efficiency alongside a flat membrane roof system for watertight coverage.

When it comes to these particulars of home building, from exacting complex elements to selecting the right materials for varied western and northern Michigan climates, Zahn Builders is an expert. Paired with an ability to make the most of rich, intricate design programs, the firm offers a precedent-setting, customized building experience.

Passion in process

“To me, [being custom-built] means it’s a home that’s never been built before. It’s a

home that’s truly programmed for the cli- ent’s needs,” Zahn said. “Our most success- ful projects happen when we’re retained at the same time as the architect so that we’re two separate companies, contracted sepa- rately but working on the same team for the owner. We’re able to learn about the design and respect where the design came from; respect the design goals, but also give builder input as someone to see the design in prac- tical, builder-friendly, cost-effective ways to achieve the design intent.”

It’s the learning aspect of the construction process that continually rotates through the Zahn Builders practice, too. By consistently pursuing education and pro- moting self-performed, custom-work on projects, the firm supports an all-inclusive approach to home building that also en- sures that labor shortages are never an is- sue. These qualities contribute to the unique residential building industry in the region, that is singlehandedly changing definitions of custom craft.

For Zahn, there is dual appeal in creating these spaces closer to home in West Michigan and upward in northern areas like Harbor Springs. He has also recently purchased property in downtown Harbor Springs that could potentially convert into an office in the future. For now, it is home to a resident project manager who holds a similar appreciation for building in the region and the structural complexities that can come with it.

“I’ve always been fascinated with northern Michigan and it’s always been my dream to have the opportunity to have a satellite boutique business where we can [work with] people like we do in West Michigan and within that unique community,” Zahn said.

“We have a lot of past clients from Grand Rapids who have second homes in the area that we’ve also been servicing, so it’s worked out well and we’re excited about it,” Zahn added.

For this particular second home, Zahn’s goal is to complete a turnkey delivery by June of 2021, after which the couple will have a summer to savor the serene surroundings and articulate pairing of modern design and tailored construction that came together to craft a custom-built oasis.

“I think what really excited me about this project was that this was a very hard-working Grand Rapids couple and I really under- stood their motivation to create and to say, ‘hey, let’s build our retirement home now, early, and use it as a vacation home,’” Zahn said. “I could just see the excitement and feel the passion behind it.”

It’s a passion that is very familiar to Zahn.