Residential Architect articles from March 2005

Residential Architect archives from March 2005

Shades of green: we're running out of excuses for making the wrong choices.(from the editor)
March 1, 2005... Few sensible people dispute the fact that we'll have to pay the piper someday soon for the harm we've wrought upon our environment. And none of us, if we're honest with ourselves, can refute that architecture contributes substantially to the...

Come together.(Letters: exercise your right to write.)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2005... So the AIA can't regulate fees ("The Charge Brigade," August 2004, page 13). True. But the real estate agents' organizations can't regulate theirs either. Yet somehow they have all managed to get on the same page and create a baseline industry...

The best of both worlds.(Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... achieving visual integrity without compromising function Some of the more common features on today's homes are there purely for the sake of visual integrity. Consider window shutters, for example. When originally designed, they served an...

The not so wasteful house.(Home front: news from the leading edge of residential design)
March 1, 2005... Sarah Susanka's Not So Big Showhouse aptly illustrates, we've come a long way from the days when sustainability was unsightly. Thousands of attendees at this year's International Builders' Show in Orlando toured the 2,660-square-foot house,...

Sofa so good.(Home front: news from the leading edge of residential design)
March 1, 2005... Your newly completed house may be green, but what about the furniture? Fear not! New York City-based Q Collection offers an inspiring line of fine furniture and accessories made primarily of environmentally-friendly materials. Founded by...

Clean water cottage.(Home front: news from the leading edge of residential design)
March 1, 2005... The owners of this cottage sought to savor the water, the picturesque convergence of the Hull Creek and Potomac River into the Chesapeake Bay. In response, architect Rick Harlan Schneider, principal of Washington, D.C.-based Inscape Studio,...

On the boards / the perfect dorm.(Home front: news from the leading edge of residential design)
March 1, 2005... About a year ago, a group of Duke University students approached Raleigh, N.C., architect Frank Harmon with an intriguing request. They asked him to draw up a proposal for an environmentally friendly student residence that could double as a...

Calendar.(Home front: news from the leading edge of residential design)(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... accessible design deadline: april 11 boston society of architects Residential, public, and historic buildings that are accessible for persons of all abilities are recognized for their design excellence. Any architect or designer may submit...

Kitchen: green in the city.(k + b studio)
March 1, 2005... This 8-acre wooded site is a rare treasure in urban Charlotte, N.C. As such, it deserved a thoughtful, gentle intervention of the kind championed by William McDonough + Partners of Charlottesville, Va. The known for its commitment to...

Bath: background check.(k + b studio)
March 1, 2005... Deceptively simple and serenely understated, the master bath the effort it took to design and build. For example, shunned the usual tile walls because of a strong distaste for grout and joint lines. So, throughout the 8-by-14-foot room, the...

A call to arms: if we truly want to clean up the planet, we'd better start with our own profession.(perspective)
March 1, 2005... We had a Chinese exchange student staying at our house recently, and one evening we got onto the topic of sustainability in architecture. He proposed that sustainability could be seen in the Great Wall, the Parthenon, or any other ancient stone...

The green house effect: eco-friendly design grows more practical and more acceptable.(practice)
March 1, 2005... So much for our nation's red and blue recent past. America is turning green, and the change is only partly related to politics. If you looked at a time-release map of the United States over the past five years, you would see the color seeping...

Natural habitat: Anni Tilt and David Arkin design houses to suit their clients and save the planet.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2005... David Arkin and Anni Tilt, husband-and-wife architects in Berkeley, Calif., live with their two children in a refurbished 1910 farmhouse outfitted with solar panels and a wind turbine. They walk or bike the five blocks to their solar-powered...

Mindful choices: when going for green, every decision is earthshaking.
March 1, 2005... green pastures It's one thing for architects to design environmentally friendly houses for well-heeled, right-thinking clients; it's another for them to put their own money where their principles are. Material decisions, budgetary...

From the ground up: new bio-based building products look good while doing good.(doctor spec)
March 1, 2005... As public interest in eco-friendly houses grows, so too does demand for green building products. Made with ingredients that are less harsh than conventional sources, these materials are easier to live with and, presumably, healthier for the...

Glass substitute.(Architects' choice: product picks from the pros.)
March 1, 2005... Min|Day frequently uses Interstate Plastics' sanded acrylic as an alternative to glass. "Once you sand the acrylic, it takes on a completely different materiality from its clear state," says Day. Interstate Plastics offers acrylic in a number...

Slide away.(Architects' choice: product picks from the pros.)
March 1, 2005... Fleetwood Windows and Doors is highly regarded for its energy-efficient windows and sliding glass doors. Min|Day is also a fan of the company's breadth of offerings. The Norwood 3070-EX multi-slide door (seen here on the Butt Pool House) allows...

Meritorious Minerit.(Architects' choice: product picks from the pros.)
March 1, 2005... Like many architects, Min|Day appreciates the performance characteristics and easygoing industrial aesthetic of fiber cement panels. One of the firm's favorites is Minerit (shown here on the firm's Misha/Twadell project) from American Fiber...

Beautiful clay.(New material: piping-hot products for your next project.)
March 1, 2005... Gypsum wallboard is versatile and economical but often needs some dressing up. Paint is one option, but this clay-based plaster might also fit the bill. The 100 percent natural product is made from a combination of clays, aggregates, and...

Pleasure Dome.(New material: piping-hot products for your next project.)
March 1, 2005... This Dome pendant is perfect if you want to trick out a loft or simply give your custom home a hint of commercial chic. Ideal for a host of other interior applications, the fixture has a dome-shaped acrylic shade, a ballast compartment made...

Cold fusion.(New material: piping-hot products for your next project.)
March 1, 2005... Just when you thought concrete might have reached its limit as a sophisticated interior spec, Denver-based Metallo Cast Sinks and Surfaces has taken the material one step further: The company fuses concrete and metal to create an inventive line...

Shard thing.(Reclaim to fame: recycling is all the rage among flooring aficionados.)
March 1, 2005... EnviroGLAS Terrazzo takes crushed, 100 percent recycled glass and bonds it with a color-pigmented resin to produce durable, poured-in-place countertops and floors. This stain- and bacteria-resistant material doesn't off-gas and is easily...

Cool composite.(Reclaim to fame: recycling is all the rage among flooring aficionados.)
March 1, 2005... A mix of recycled glass and concrete makes up IceStone. The composite doesn't contain fillers, resulting in a product that looks and handles like natural stone but is less porous and more heat-resistant. Appropriate for vertical or horizontal...

Tile revival.(Reclaim to fame: recycling is all the rage among flooring aficionados.)
March 1, 2005... Beer and wine bottles become Blazestone mosaic tiles' earth-tone patterns, while stained glass waste results in the company's brighter selections. Fused from 100 percent recycled glass without added pigments or fillers, the tiles come in 28...

Climate control.(Reclaim to fame: recycling is all the rage among flooring aficionados.)
March 1, 2005... Oceanside Glasstile combines up to 85 percent recycled glass with raw sand to generate many of its glass tile offerings. The freeze- and thaw- resistant products come in more than 40 colors and finishes, including mosaics, textured designs, and...

Plastic redux.(Reclaim to fame: recycling is all the rage among flooring aficionados.)
March 1, 2005... Durat solid surfaces contain 50 percent recycled plastic and are 100 percent recyclable, according to the company. The polyester-based material stands up to heat, humidity, scratches, and stains, the maker claims, and comes in sheets for...

Retired tires.(Reclaim to fame: recycling is all the rage among flooring aficionados.)
March 1, 2005... Yemm & Hart offers three different surface materials made from discarded tires, detergent bottles, and PVC Plastic scraps. Choose Tire Veneer tiles for a nontoxic floor covering in 18- or 36-inch squares of bright flecks against gray or black...

Green peace: rue de meaux housing, Paris, 1987-91 Renzo Piano Building Workshop.(end quote)
March 1, 2005... The city of Paris' original plan for this 200-unit affordable housing complex included a public street passing through the middle of the project. Then it hired the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Dismayed at the thought of the daily chaos the...