Studio InSitu Architects

Tim at InSitu completed a design review/consultation for a large new building next door to my property. Due to his careful consideration, review of bylaws and architectural inspirations, and innovative thinking, he was able to transform the project from something I dreaded to a very nice looking building, gracefully situated and with many appealing features. He brought a high level of professionalism to the project, and was able to articulate his goals to both regular people without building/architecture backgrounds and the developer himself. I'm grateful for his work on the project, and would recommend him to anyone.

Tim Hess and InSitu Studio worked with us on countless details of design, construction and camaraderie in the course of our extensive home building project. The initial architect for the overall design was a colleague who's expertise was more on the broad scale. Tim and his team stepped in and brought beauty and reality to many unusual design elements. Our house is super insulated and incorporates several unusual features. Tim worked patiently with us to translate these into aesthetically graceful expressions of architecture, detailing and function. Every person at InSitu with whom we had contact -- and we met weekly for some months -- was cooperative, responsive, patient and generally fun. Tim must have a hidden degree in family counseling because he's very adept at helping work through difficult decisions. We valued our working relationship with Tim and InSitu tremendously and recommend them heartily.

Tim and his team have worked with us on three completed residential projects at our home. We are now preparing to start a fourth phase, which we hope will complete the upgrade of our nearly 60 year old Cape. The first project was a street facing dormer that reshaped the look of the house from the exterior, while providing where before there had been a gloomy restrictive hall, expansive new well lit space inside. Interior finishes included high density foam insulation, replacing all old style wood trim with new bold trim, a long window seat, and custom shelves, cabinets and a built in desk. With the contractors still on site, a design in hand, we started the second project, while halfway through the first. This project was to upgrade the original 1966 upstairs bathroom, and replaced it with a 3 room segmented space that had separate shower/bath, toilet, and 2 sink washroom. We have 4 bedrooms on the second floor. With Tim we created the perfect 4 person bathroom, where all 4 could, if necessary, simultaneously have privacy, while sharing the same space. Tim designed the cabinetry for both the 8' vanity, and shower/tub room. Tile selections, combined with careful LED placement, gave us a bright usable space. When the second floor dormer and bathroom were complete, we moved from our downstairs Master bedroom to one of the upstairs bedrooms to make way for the third project, which was intended to provide a first floor master suite where we could eventually gracefully age in place. Tim's design gutted the left side of our house, removing the master bedroom, a guest room, powder room and small classic 1960's master bath consisting of a shower, toilet and single sink. He extended, with a full basement under, the back of the house 8' for the length of the master bedroom and master bath. The finished product comprised an expanded entry hall, relocated formal powder room, and entry coat closet, an expanded Master Bedroom with a large walk in closet, and a Master bath unit that included a closeted laundry, 8' counter with 2 sinks, linen closet, and a wet room that allowed ample space for a shower that had both a wall head and ceiling rain shower, plus a full size bath tub. Exterior walls and ceilings were insulated with closed cell foam that provides the most remarkable heat and A/C retention. As with the upstairs Tim paid particular attention to the finish details, being uncompromising and bold with the door design, windows, molding, trim, as well as adding crown molding. Doors were sized to allow wheelchair access, if we were to ever need it, bathroom fixtures while beautiful, were also selected to ensure they would be as relevant today, as they might need to be in 20 years. We completed these projects last spring, and love the finished work, with us particularly enjoying the space, comfort, and grandeur of our bedroom and bathroom. These projects were part of a master plan we had initially worked on with Tim, with the final stage of the master plan to bump out our constricted family room and kitchen, plus remove a small three season converted breezeway between the garage and house, replacing it with a two story space that will combine Tim's bold style with our desire for a functional kitchen, and more importantly a warm welcoming home.

My wife's disabled father was moving in with us and we had to re-vamp the downstairs bathroom to accommodate him and his his walker. We asked InSitu to design a handicap accessible bathroom that would also fit our sense of design. Wow! We couldn't believe what our gutted bathroom turned into, and then some! InSitu proposed something that nobody else even thought of: opening up the floor over the basement for a step-down tub/shower! We (wife and kids) now step down three steps into a jacuzzi tub with double shower heads and no curtain to hide the tiling and keep kid-generated mess under control. My father-in-law showers in a different bathroom upstairs, but the toilet "grab bars" were disguised as the toilet-paper/magazine rack on one side and the counter top on the other. Worked like a charm for my father-in-law. Tons of storage space, too, and a big mirror my wife can see the back of her head in. InSitu organized an army of different workers who did great work in a small space. Guests now inevitably comment on the great bathroom and only on careful inspection realize that it is actually handicap accessible.