A progressive little house for a young family of three to live for 5 years or so. The owner was keen on experimenting with innovative materials and methods including photo-voltaic panels maximized to the ideal orientations. Presently, their electrical bills have been about $20 a month.
The structure sits on excavated bedrock on a concrete foundation with a vast overlook of a mountain valley far above the rooftops of the dense little community of Hastings. It was erected in 1 week by a heroic Vermont crew and their golden lab. The exterior skin of the house is SIPS panels cut to order from a Vermont mill which includes the roof. Once shop drawings were approved, the panels were cut and openings were prefab with headers. The roof is galvanized sheet steel and the skin is a tight rain screen using 4x8 sheets of gray unpainted Hardie Board trimmed with extruded aluminum channels and stainless steel screws.
Completed in 2011, it was my last independent project and certainly the single most creative work I was able to accomplish from tabla rassa. It was also the only commission that I received 100% from the internet. They were intrigued with a smaller conceptual house I designed to be a kinder "Levittown" cube estimated and called the "$100K House".