About Hearthworks
We design places people grow attached to. Our work centers on homes, neighborhood buildings, libraries, workplaces, cafes, and community spaces—architecture that fits daily life and strengthens the character of a place.
Midwest-rooted (Chicago and Madison) with selected projects on the West Coast and in mountain towns.
Practice
Hearthworks isn’t a luxury firm or a theoretical studio. We focus on human-scale architecture: porches and entries that feel welcoming, kitchens and offices that work day to day, courtyards and gardens that invite people outside, and neighborhood buildings that fit their streets.
Where we work
- Chicago + Madison: Core residential, mixed-use, library, and community projects.
- Beyond the region: Occasional work on the West Coast and in mountain towns with local collaborators.
Principles
- Neighborhood first: fit the street, the block, the routines.
- Material honesty: brick, wood, stone, tile, plaster, ironwork—detailed for touch and longevity.
- Gardens and courtyards: outdoor rooms as part of everyday life.
- Repair before replace: adaptive reuse when possible.
- Light, air, and comfortable entries.
- Belonging over novelty.
Approach
Walk the block
Understand neighbors, trees, porches, and patterns of use.
Listen to routines
What needs to happen here every day? Where do people gather?
Sketch and iterate
Quick drawings and working mockups to find what fits.
Detail the craft
Durable, repairable materials; clear joints; good light.
Build what matters
Phase if helpful; adapt as the place teaches us.