I would like to thank Mark LePage for helping me learn how to spell this word. Don’t quiz me yet though. Mark the blogger /architect has created a new website - Entrepreneur Architect -for those of you readers who are architects trying to build your own businesses. He seems to be doing a very good job of it so I’m paying attention to what he has to say.
The Brattleboro Reformer ran an article on the Perry Road Project today “LEED-ing the Way” For those who have been keeping tabs on this project, we will be holding several open house tours during and after construction. Stay tuned here for dates and more information. Also my college friend Mark LePage put an entry relating to me in his new blog Entrepaneur Architect It has been interesting to watch Mark’s firm as it grows and his internet activities expand. Very inspiring, Now I am trying to inspire other classmates from architecture school to follow suit.
An amazing old schoolhouse near where I grew up in Harrison. I really hope nobody ever tries to change it. I need to send this image to Linden Frederick
I have been mulling over this subject with a builder friend for a while now and I think I can make my point brief. He is building a very “green” house which is small and pretty and so forth but the cost is astronomical. A simple example of why it is so expensive is that the architect specified clay drain tiles around the foundation instead of PVC. Much more $$. Not that I approve of the use of vinyl - just rent “Blue Vinyl” and you’ll see why - My thought is: would the world be better off if they used the pvc and put the price difference into their town’s fund to help low income folks winterize and add insulation? That seems to me to be so much more environmentally responsible.
Here is a rendering of the Perry Road project for the press.
The ICF foundation is in and the slab goes down thursday. The plumber is putting the drains in to the septic and roughing for a future basement bathroom. We used Nudura ICFs which have 2 1/2″ of foam inside and out. and a footing form that stays in place as a footing drain inside and out. We are putting 4″ of foam under the slab and radiant tubing in the slab (in case we need it someday)
I didn’t get a job once because the folks decided to go with a full service design build firm that offered “free” design services. I had the rather funny image of some old retired architect who worked for free because he was either being blackmailed or he was very wealthy and just loved to work so much that he was doing it for free. The other thought was that the person doing the “free” design work was some high school drafting class kid who they were paying so little that it was easy for the company to absorb the cost. These people may actually have been gullible enough to think that they weren’t, somewhere in the bill, paying for design.
We broke ground last Friday and quickly discovered ledge. Read more »
There is a lot of discussion lately about second homes and how can they be “green” given their very nature as inherently excessive. Read more »
The ferns are unfurling around the fern house, our seasonal guest sleeping / napping spot
The bed is a futon on a slatted frame hung from the structure on parachute cord. The entire project took about forty hours and $700 or $800 bucks a few years ago. Mostly just 2 x 4’s , 2 x 6’s polycarbonate roofing and charcoal coated metal screen. I will try to get some better pics up on the website. www.swinburnearchitect.com
Building Science.com - I am ashamed at my oversight. This is an amazing organization. They are central to the residential building industry and if one were to manage to read their entire website, one would have received quite an education. I have referred to them for years when I have a question or need a good explanation for a client but forgot to add them into my links in this blog.
I’m sure everyone by now has heard assorted things about how bad for us (and not just the environment) plastic can be. Green Sage is an E-Zine that comes across my desk periodically and they have a concise article about the good and bad in regards to plastics.
David Powell was featured in the April 2008 Trade magazine “Builder/Architect” Vermont Edition. the article features a number of projects we worked on together as well as an article on page 9 written by me which is a better developed version of a previous entry on this blog.
Too good not to share:
Bob, I wish I needed a house. Read more »
Yes, it’s official as of this morning although some of you have known since Friday. Read more »
I added a few new blog links tonight. Materialicious is a high traffic site that could suck up way too much time but well worth the visit as evidenced by the find below.
Longhouse is a single house design and build type blog which are fun to read sometimes to see how other people go about making decisions. The architect works for one of my favorite firms located in Maine. Elliot Elliot and Norelius. I am seduced by the long narrow house form of Longhouse but I need porches! I don’t like the inside or outside but nothing in between nature of a lot of houses.
Here is something vaguely architectural. This is a device that rotates and sorts bucket loads from an excavator in a gravel pit. What emerges is various piles from rocks to gravel. There is an old engine in the back that runs the whole thing. Tires rotate against tires to turn the sloped cylinder and as gravel tumbles though it the finest gravel falls out into a pile in front, small rocks to the left and big rocks out the end. Very homemade and very cool. It should be in the Smithsonian. I worked for the man who built this when I was in high school in Maine. I think we all know someone like him, able to make or fix anything.
Recently while looking at my own portfolio I realized how no project completely represents “me”. I work for other people to help them realize their dreams therefore each project is mostly about them. I see evidence of my input and guidance, I see each project as a series of decisions, compromises and inspirations but none of these projects represent what I would have done if left to myself with the site, program and budget. I wonder when I look at other architect’s work how much was the architect and how much was the client? In architecture school we were taught to design for ourselves. We interpreted the program. Budget constraints were non-existent. We never met with clients. We were trained in the “starchitect” model. We realized this at the time but perhaps never thought that once we got out of school we would never again be allowed such freedom of design. Even those of us lucky enough to design our own homes are faced with budget constraints and family input. Architects as artists are like the painters of old in that we are told what to paint and how. Most of us do need to feed ourselves and our families. Perhaps all we can hope for on some projects is to slip a little of ourselves in when and where no one’s looking.
With a title like this I’ll probably get lots of google hits and lots of spam. An interesting note: We had intended to use composting toilets in the Perry Road Project but in Vermont this allows you to reduce the size of the leech field by only 25%. They also require you to have the septic folks take your compost away every year. Another factor in our decision not to use composting toilets is the cost. This is a very low budget house and composting toilets are pretty pricey. We will probably go with Toto low flow toilets. These have a very good reputation.
I see many houses around here that would have benefited from some professional design help. It seems that people like to spend more money than they need to . These houses look complicated (if it looks complex then it is expensive) and yet they are obviously intended to be low cost housing. Not many people (or banks) “get” that spending money on an architect or designer up front can save them much more money in the months to follow during construction. Perhaps it is similar to solar hot water systems. Spend 5k to 7k up front and it takes 5 years or so before it is paid off in savings and then it starts saving money. It’s like putting and extra $50 in the bank every month. That’s an extra $6000 dollars over the next 10 years not counting for interest and certainly not counting for rising oil, gas or electricity costs. There was a picture in this month’s “National Geographic” showing a Chinese subdivision from above. Many of the houses had solar hot water systems on the roof. They must be smarter than us.
I am involved with a project that is currently in the trimming out phase. This is the point where, if all goes well, the client and the builder can really see what I was blathering on about months ago. The owner is having some “aha!” moments and really appreciating the back and forth of the design process and the builder is humming along comfortable in making decisions and enjoying doing good work. Of course with the warm weather and the snow finally gone here in Vermont and no bugs yet, I think it would be hard not to be happy. Gotta go work on the garden. We get a substantial portion of our food year round from our own garden.
