2 Dog

— TWO-FLAT DECONVERSION | STRUCTURAL REINFORCEMENT | LUXURY INTERIORS

Conversion

PRACTICE AREA

Custom Residential

LOCATION

Logan Square | Chicago, IL

SCOPE

Two-Flat Deconversion | Structural Reinforcement | Luxury Interiors | Custom Millwork

RECOGNITION

Contractor of the Year by National Association of the Remodeling Industry

— THE PROJECT

Held to the budget,

built to

the original intent.

This Logan Square residence began as a frame two-flat, built in 1896 and later divided into stacked apartments. Affectionately named for the two primary residents of the household: a michievious old golden retriever and a stoic mutt. This project is the second of four phases the same owners have entrusted to Integro, each one building on the work before it. Returning this building to a single-family home — combining the two floors and reconfiguring the upper level into a luxury primary suite and guest bedroom — meant confronting a familiar cost problem: municipal code treats a deconversion as a trigger for mandatory upgrades, and preliminary preconstruction pricing landed well above the clients' budget. Rather than force the number or surrender the quality, the clients chose to adapt the scope, working with Integro to value-engineer the project around a single question: which moves trigger an upgrade requirement, and which do not?
The discipline of that work is holding design intent and build quality steady while the scope around them contracts. At the perimeter walls, stripping the original plaster to run new conduit would have exposed the exterior framing, triggering insulation and furring requirements and a cascade of demolition and carpentry cost; Integro instead upgraded the wiring in place, trading added electrical labor for the larger carpentry scope. Where the spend earned its keep, the team committed fully — taking the ceiling down so new framing could carry the details that define the home: a custom millwork screen wall flanking the freestanding tub in the primary bath, millwork wainscot and sconces along the primary hall, and ornamental steel at the interior staircase.
One decision surfaced a problem no drawing had predicted — removing the entry vestibule between the former units to open the new foyer into the living room revealed framing far weaker than assumed, and the opening required structural reinforcement. Rather than bury the new timber beam behind finishes, the design pulled it into view, letting the reinforced structure read as a deliberate feature. Around it, the full scope — utility upgrades, a new vented fireplace, refinished historic hardwood, complex tile, and custom millwork and stone — was delivered without disturbing the already-finished basement and first floor.
Nothing in the finished home announces what it cost to get there — only a single-family house that reads as though it had never been two

— CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION

The finished home tells one story. The process tells another. Demolition exposed original framing weaker than the drawings had assumed; systems were rerouted in place to avoid triggering a costly upgrade; and more than one detail was set out full-scale, in pencil, on the wall itself. These images record what Integro found on site, the decisions made as the building revealed itself, and the judgment that kept the budget intact.

A golden retriever dog lying on a cozy rug, looking directly at the camera.

A black and tan dog with blue eyes looking up at the camera on a wooden floor, with a person's hand holding one of its paws in the foreground.

The structural opening of the 1st floor foyer to join the spaces turned out not to be structural.

The program was designed to avoid triggering any escalating scope items by keeping the plaster at the exterior walls intact.

We made surgical structural openings to adhere to regulations while mitigating costs.

An architectural moulding installation anchors the primary bedroom wall as a fixed mural.

The primary suite was designed as luxurious as any of our most curated projects.

It might have been stressful.

Architectural floor plan of a living room featuring a fireplace, with dimensions and placement details for the wall, fireplace, and surrounding structures.

Living room with a black marble coffee table, a gray sofa with pillows, a brown dog, and a white furry rug. A modern fireplace is built into a black textured wall, next to a black basket and a white wall. A stylish chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

The fireplace was clade in a vertical tile installation and completed with custom, curved stone fabrication for the hearth.

The reconfigured entry leads the eye straight to a new fireplace, the first thing a visitor sees.

OSHA Inspectfur: Eero

Safety Pawficer: Beau

Interior room under construction with exposed wooden framing, unfinished walls, a ceiling light, and construction materials on the floor.

Construction site with exposed wooden framing, metal pipes, and a partially finished ceiling. No workers visible.

Technical drawing of a wall layout with gridlines, angles, and measurements for construction or engineering purposes.

Interior view of a room under renovation with exposed wooden framing, caution tape, and partially removed flooring.

Man in a blue shirt and jeans wearing red shoe covers, standing in a partially renovated room, with a ladder and plastic sheeting covering the area.

A 3D architectural drawing of a bathroom showing a bathtub, toilet, window, and wall paneling.

— PROJECT IMAGERY

Modern living room with large windows, black armchair, gray sofa, black marble coffee table, black textured fireplace, abstract art on white wall, white vase with flowers, and a unique chandelier with glass globes and exposed bulbs.

Modern living room with armchair, sofa, coffee table, large window with cream curtains, abstract artwork on wall, and hanging modern light fixtures.

Modern living room with a black leather armchair, a black marble coffee table with books and decorative items, a black textured fireplace with a fire, and a black wood-paneled wall with a geometric chandelier overhead. A window with blinds is on the

Interior of a modern house with a staircase with wooden steps and black metal railing. The stairway is reaching an upper floor with a white wall and a small window. There is a ceiling light fixture with a brass finish. To the left, a small round tabl

Close-up of black stairway balustrades with wooden stairs in the background.

A bedroom with a dark gray geometric accent wall, a bed with rust-colored bedding, and two pillows, one white and one matching rust. On the left, there are beige curtains, and on the right, part of a window is visible. A nightstand on the left side o

Modern bedroom with dark gray accent wall behind bed, rust-colored bedding, and gray chairs in foreground. Light enters through a bay window, with a doorway leading to a bright adjacent room. Ceiling fan and wall sconces provide lighting.

Interior of a modern living space showing a gray sofa with a black tray and open book, a black wall, wooden sliding barn door with black hardware, white hallway with wooden flooring, wall-mounted light fixtures, and a door with a curtain.

Close-up image of white panel doors with gold fixtures and modern spherical wall sconces in a hallway.

Bedroom with pink patterned wallpaper, beige headboard with nailhead trim, pale yellow pillow, dark bedside table with black candlestick holders, and black and white vase with dark red branches. Pink ceiling with white and gold light fixture.

A modern bathroom featuring a black double vanity with gold handles, pink vessel sinks, and black wall-mounted faucets. The wall behind has white tiles, and there are two black-framed arched mirrors above the sinks. A white vase with dried pampas gra

A modern bathroom with a white freestanding bathtub, a black handheld shower, a marble countertop, a wooden bath tray with a glass of white wine and a book, a patterned rug, and a wood slat privacy screen with a spherical wall-mounted light fixture.

A modern shower with white subway tile walls, a black showerhead and fixtures, a hanging green plant, a round black control knob, a black adjustable shower bar, a yellow bath sponge, and a glass shower door on the right side.

Modern bathroom with white tiled walls, black flooring, a walk-in shower with glass door, light pink sinks with black cabinets, a wooden tray with an open book, a wine glass, and a vase with dried flowers.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Dustin Halleck

PRACTICE AREA

Custom Residential

What preconstruction-first practice protects is judgment — the room to ask which costs the design required and which costs code required, while the answers could still change the outcome. Acting on that distinction, and holding the budget without surrendering the home, is the discipline behind our residential work.

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