The Prescott Passive House is a single-family, low-energy residence that was part of the revitalization of the Prescott neighborhood near downtown Kansas City, Kansas. This unique house was designed for the affordable-housing market as a speculative house to be sold to qualified buyers, those with an annual income was no more than eighty percent of the target Area Median Income (AMI). Designed to meet both Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) and LEED Platinum standards.The PHIUS standards are analogous to building a thermos in which energy loads are drastically reduced by means of a super-insulated, virtually airtight building shell which allows as close to no heat transfer as humanly possible – maximize your gains, minimize your losses.
Prescott Passive House is a 1,700 square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence. Despite its modest size, the open floor plan creates a spacious interior. The site slopes steeply from the back property line down to the street. The front of the foundation is screened by a carport that extends from the front elevation and supports a large outdoor deck. The house can be entered from the carport through a basement door to a finished flex space or by taking a staircase to the deck where one can enter the living room on the main floor. The deck has expansive views of the Prescott neighborhood and the Kansas City skyline. The two-story living room is open to the kitchen and dining room. An open staircase connects to the multi-use loft at the top of the stairs and the master bedroom suite that extends to the back of the house. The bathrooms for both floors are efficiently stacked and flooded with natural light through a two-story frosted glass wall that faces the extensive glazing along the south wall of the house. Two more bedrooms are located on the first floor at the back of house behind the bathroom core.
The University of Kansas Department of Architecture invites applications for Studio 804, a comprehensive one-year, fully hands-on design-build experience for students who are at an advanced stage in their studies and committed to the continued research and development of affordable, sustainable and inventive building solutions. Students enrolled in Studio 804 work full time to design and build a new building every year. The widely-published program, under the direction of Distinguished Professor Dan Rockhill, has produced ten LEED Platinum buildings, three of which are Passive House-certified. To learn more, visit studio804.com and architecture. ku.edu/studio804. The university accepts transfers, 4+2 grads, B.Arch grads, M.Arch grads, or professionals — anyone who wants to be a better architect by having had the experience of designing and constructing a sophisticated building in its entirety from the ground up.