Bovina House

Bovina, NY, United States

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Greene Street Loft

Bovina House

Bovina, NY, United States

Firm

Kimberly Peck Architect

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2012

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

BUDGET

$100K - 500K

Photos

Torkil Stavdal (12)

This house was built for a couple from Scandinavia living in New York City. They wanted both the feel of a NY loft and a house that was modern while adapting the “hygge” from the cabins they grew up with. They also wanted to build a house that would be energy efficient using materials that were both economical and environmentally conscious. The main structure of the house is a timber frame from an nineteenth century barn that has been restored and raised on this new site. The entirety of this frame has then been wrapped in SIPs (structural insulated panels), both walls and the roof. The house is slab on grade, insulated from below. The concrete slab was poured with a radiant heating system inside and the top of the slab was polished and left exposed as the flooring surface. Fiberglass windows with an extremely high R-value were chosen for their green properties. Care was also taken during construction to make all of the joints between the SIPs panels and around window and door openings as airtight as possible. The fact that the house is so airtight along with the high overall insulatory value achieved from the insulated slab, SIPs panels, and windows make the house very energy efficient; important in the extremely cold winter weather conditions of the Catskills. The house utilizes an air exchanger, a device that brings fresh air in from outside without losing heat and circulates the air within the house to move warmer air down from the second floor. Other green materials in the home include reclaimed barn wood used for the floor and ceiling of the second floor, reclaimed wood stairs and bathroom vanity, and an on-demand hot water/boiler system. The exterior of the house is clad in black corrugated steel with a galvanized standing seam roof reminiscent of the black tar cabins of Scandinavia. They wanted the house to have no windows on one side so when approaching it simply looks like a black shape, rather than an inhabited house. The intent was to hide the view from visitors until you get inside, so it would feel like a surprise when you enter the space and it opens up to the view with large sliding doors onto a big deck overlooking the Catskill mountains.