Third place winner of nationwide residential design competition sponsored by Custom Builder magazine.
“We weren’t surprised that many designs included elevators, soccer fields and private patios off the bedrooms. But a few bowled us over with their creativity, and they are well represented here.” Susan Bady, Senior Editor, Design – Custom Builder Magazine
Go here for slide show of images.
Go here for images and text at our portfolio site
Go here for online article showcasing the winners
Competition Entry Statement:
The ultimate custom home for today’s lifestyle – Thirty Four Hundred square feet (including a 900 SF basement) of highly customizable living space designed for accessibility, flexibility and with an array of energy conservation strategies.
Three key items set this home apart from other plans. One is the inclusion of a residential lift/elevator allowing elderly or disabled people access to the entire house; and two, almost every room has access to exterior decks and patios – situated in a way to provide individual privacy in a house meant for multi-generational living; and three, the lower level is exposed to a patio rather than window wells. It also includes an exterior stair leading to the decks serving the living room and kitchen.
This home is the ultimate in flexibility.
With minor intervention the first floor bedroom can become a master suite by opening the office to the bedroom instead of the dining area, thereby providing two private rooms along with the accessible bathroom and closet.
This suite can also be locked off from the rest of the house and become a tenant suite with its own entry in the front courtyard.
Even thought the residential elevator provides extreme flexibility it is not needed as the basic house accommodates the requested program elements.
Basic energy conservation is built into this plan with the inclusion of thick construction space allowing for super insulation as well as a limited amount of glass area compared to the floor area. Of course many other active energy and water saving technologies can be added to this project along with the selection of sustainable materials like the exterior paper based surface panels.
About Construction and Design:
We’re big fans of pragmatism when it comes to construction methods and materials particularly in custom residential work. We try to spec what contractors and owners are used to working with even when we apply a high degree of ‘design’ to the project, and happily these things usually end up being the most cost effective.
For instance stick-built construction is universally known and accepted, and significant energy savings and sustainability can be achieved if the drawings/specifications are clear, the project site is well managed and everyone is on the same page. At the same time well known or ’standard’ construction systems can be more forgiving than say modular or prefab construction in that errors and changes can be corrected or made on the fly with fewer negative consequences to the construction cost or schedule.
The achievements of new technologies, including modular or prefab construction, are certainly challenging this view, however for the competition house we chose to stay primarily with standard methods and known materials.
