Paul Janicki Architects

04/08/2022

Article about the sale of one of our recent projects. It was certainly one of our most gratifying assignments and absolutely loved working with the entire Tawani team with Jennifer Pritzker.

The sale of a six-bedroom mansion — the fourth Evanston property Pritzker has sold in recent years — is the city's most expensive in years.

07/02/2020

Our FINAL stop in the home office series: The Completed Home Office.

Featuring a new seating area with new dormer, new skylight, and new desk area with new dormer - we were able to truly transform this space into a home office dream come true. Check it out!

06/24/2020

Next stop in the home office series: Concept Sketches.

The home owners wanted to have an open, light and airy environment where they could have conventional desks as well as a lounge area where they could read and also entertain clients occasionally. The space needed to be suitable for school age students who would need it occasionally for their remote learning.

We felt we needed to gain more natural light as there were only 2 dormer windows for the entire space. We suggested carving a significantly sized opening in the roof to create a skylight.

We also created a beautiful staircase and railings to replace the existing pedestrian version (concept sketch #1).

The desk area was designed for the far side of the attic. There were no windows there so we created large dormers with casement windows to match the historic ones. These dormers would create places for two desks and plenty of light and views that can be seen in this concept sketch #2.

06/16/2020

Last week we introduced our home office series. Today, we are showcasing a couple of photos of an attic space in the Tudor Revival home. As you can see, it was being used for storage and the finishes are not in keeping with the original house.

These "before" photos show the future seating area as well as the future office area before new dormers were added. Stay tuned next week see the next stage in this incredible transformation...

06/08/2020

So many people are working from home now and it’s likely the business world will transition towards this permanently. And can we just say two words? Home schooling. It’s a thing.

So we thought it might be helpful to outline approaches to creating high functioning office/work spaces for your residence.

Many homes have forgotten spaces that are being utilized for storage, typically not habitable purposes. This is a project that took a neglected storage space and transitioned it into a beautiful and functional office.

Here you will find some photos that highlight the overall concept of the project - from before to sketch to after. Over the next several weeks, we will spotlight details of this impressive transformation...

06/01/2020

Have you been following along our dream kitchen journey? Last Stop: The Final Product

After we coordinate with all of the trades to ensure a beautiful finished product, you're ready to start doing some serious meal prep.

05/27/2020

The next stop on our dream kitchen journey: Blueprints

Now we are ready to hardline all of the kitchen components into a set of blueprints that will be used to attain a building permit, give to contractors, tile setters, plumbing suppliers, stone suppliers, appliance suppliers, cabinetmaker and others for build-out.

05/19/2020

The next phase in building your dream kitchen? Design Development

Here we begin defining our design and exploring cabinetry style, appliances, plumbing fixtures, lighting as well as flooring, tile and stone. We often draw these ideas in computer 3D renderings. Here's an example of another kitchen using this technique.

05/13/2020

Ready to build your dream kitchen? Here are the first few steps in the process...

1. Initial Site/Client Meeting
We get to know each other and become familiar with the site/existing kitchen as well as client goals and wish lists.

2. Preliminary Design
We hand-draw basic concepts through plans and sketches

05/06/2020

If you're spending more time at home, that probably means you're dreaming up your ideal space. So, we are starting a new series that spotlights different kinds of projects and how we go about solving the riddles of design and ultimately construction of new projects.

The first of these will focus on Kitchens. Check out the images below and stay tuned for kitchen inspiration and background info on each photo...

02/27/2020

We restored this estate designed by Phillip Maher, one of Chicago’s great home designers of the early 20th Century. PJA was honored to receive a Lake Forest Preservation Award for our work here.

Award winning historic architecture firm in Evanston, IL, fluent in landmark homes as well as new homes and small commercial.

02/24/2020

Our work environment is very important to us and to our clients. We are on the top floor of a vintage building in downtown Evanston. We maintain a sample library full of beautiful materials that our clients can browse. Our conference room is a cozy setting for design meetings and other discussions. We feel that being in a handsome space surrounded by beautiful objects is an inspiration to our work.

Award winning historic architecture firm in Evanston, IL, fluent in landmark homes as well as new homes and small commercial.