More….Building a Modern Usonian

I have been thinking more about the possibility of building a modern Usonian home. As I said before, I have pondered this question many times over the past few years. I have been thinking about what modifications would need to be made to Wright’s general Usonian design criteria, not only to accommodate modern building codes but also to be more compatible with today’s lifestyle as well as the owner’s expectations. Below is an example of a modernized floorplan.

A Usonian style home is a design that might still be considered radical, even today. Realistically, only people who are familiar with Wright or who are very interested in modern design might possibly be interested in pursuing such a home. I love Wright’s Usonian designs for their beauty and simplicity as well as their uniqueness. And, I think there are other people out there who feel the same way; who would be willing to make some sacrifices to live in such a unique home.

One of the biggest issues for someone considering building a Usonian style home would have to be cost. In Wright’s day, these homes always exceeded their budget. Because of extensive wood finishes and the small living area, I believe a Usonian style home would be very expensive compared to other homes on a square footage basis. This is important for financing and for potential resale, someday. Ideally, the owner will not need financing and would never want to sell the home. But, the reality for most people is they will need to finance the home and they may someday need to sell the home.

Wright utilized natural wood siding and paneling extensively in his original designs. While wood is still available, such extensive use would be fairly expensive. This is another area where compromises may be considered. If the budget is not an issue, then wood finishes would not be a problem. But, if the budget is a concern, what materials might be substituted? Options might include stucco or cement siding on the exterior and drywall or stucco with wood accents on the interior.

Another consideration is the floorplan. Most people might find Wright’s original Usonian designs too small. They are certainly smaller than what is typical today. I believe most people would be happy if the size of a new Usonian home was increased slightly. Specifically, the size of the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms might need to be a little larger. I personally don’t see an issue with minimally increasing the size of a design. The size of the hallways and doorways would also need to be increased in order to meet current building codes.

Some additional changes will be required to some structural elements in order to meet current building codes. Wright supported some roof sections of his Usonian homes in unconventional ways that would not meet code requirements. I believe these changed can be accomplished without too much deviation from the original designs, but would require some structural engineering analysis to satisfy most code officials.

But, in the end, by working through some considerations and around problematic issues, I believe that a modern Usonian style home can be successfully built. Regrettably, Mr. Wright is no longer among us to create a new design himself. But by using his principles as a guide, there is an opportunity to create reasonable, modern variation.

Irvin Residence Update

Here are some new pictures from the Irvin residence as it progresses. There has been lots of progress since my last update. Mechanicals, insulation and drywall are all done. They are currently working on tile and awaiting the kitchen cabinets. On the exterior, some of the siding has been installed.

Everything is looking great! It shouldn’t be too long before the house is complete. I will post additional pictures as they are available.

You can see more pictures of this home: http://www.clemdesign.com/ProjectPages/Irvin/Irvinproject.htm and you can see more of our designs here: http://www.clemdesign.com/Designs.html.

Building a Modern Usonian Home

Anyone who is familiar with Frank Lloyd Wright is probably also familiar with his Usonian designs. The Usonians were meant as a small home the everyman could afford. The first couple may have adhered to this ideal, but the following designs quickly grew in scope and price, often costing the owners double the initial estimate. However, even with the cost overruns, the end result was always a unique home that delighted the owners, some of who still live in them today. Usonian homes were as much art as they were building.

There were many, many Usonian designs, none being exactly the same. There may have been several basic layouts, but each design was modified enough from its predecessor to be unique. In addition to being unique, Wright’s Usonian homes were also built in non-traditional ways, not only in how materials were used, but also in the basic layout and structure. The Usonians also used unpainted wood siding and panels inside and out. Almost without exception, the materials list mainly consisted of wood, concrete, brick and glass. Very few if any surfaces in these homes were painted.

Below are a couple of pictures of Usonian designs I like, the Melvyn Maxwell Smith house and the Pope-Leighy house. Usonian homes are scattered across the country and I highly recommend visiting one that is open to the public if you have the opportunity.

A question I have wrestled with for several years is: If a customer wanted a Usonian style home, to what extent would you emulate the original design and what types of finishes could be substituted but still achieve the same feel? In the design, there would have to be some changes to the layout itself as some of Wright’s spaces were too small to meet today’s building codes. I believe most people would also want some changes to kitchens and bathrooms as Mr. Wright’s were typically small and basic.

Also, what finishes would you use? If money is not an issue, then you could utilize the same types of finishes used in the original homes, specifically lots of natural wood. But, I believe most people could not afford to do this. So, would it be acceptable to utilize modern finishes in a home that has the same basic spatial feel of a Usonian? It is quite the quandary.

Even though compromises will most likely be necessary in creating a modern Usonian, I do hope to someday be able to work with a client in pursuit of such a home. For I have always felt that Wright’s Usonian homes were his best and most livable designs.

A mid-century modern home rises in Kansas

Here are some more pictures of the Irvin residence. It is a mid-century modern style home being built near Lawrence, KS. It is a ranch design with a walkout basement. Some of the features are an Eichler style low-pitched gable roof with exposed beams and large trapezoidal windows.

The roof is on and some of the windows have been installed. In the other picture you can see that the interior walls are all in place. The glulam beams supporting the roof offer a large open area inside while maintaining a thin roof profile. Using this type of beam system is really the only good option as opposed to using trusses in the roof which would require more depth. The exposed beams also improve the appeal of the home.

I hope to have more pictures to post in the next few days.

A new Modern ICF Home Design takes shape

As a very busy summer has come to an end, I hope to be more frequent in posting information about new designs in the works, projects under construction as well as other note worthy events.

For the past few months, I have been working with a client in Quebec. This design is finally coming to fruition and I thought I would post some images here. These images were generated from a quick Sketchup model I made. I like the ability of Sketchup to generate nice 3D models and animations but I still have very much to learn in order to use it effectively.

Anyway, from these images you can get a feel of the exterior of the home. It is basically a rectangle with a large open living/dining/kitchen area on the south side. On the north side are a family room, office and stairwell. Upstairs there are three bedrooms, 2 baths and a sitting area next to the rooftop deck over the garage. The home will be located on a large wooded hilltop; the deck offering a great view off to the west.

The exterior walls will be ICF construction with trusses for the roof structure. The client plans to use a mixture of torrefied wood and cement board for the siding and metal for the roof surface. The rooftop deck will be a walkable membrane with a glass panel railing system.

I am really looking forward to seeing this home finished in the not too distant future and I will post information as things progress.

Modern Home Design in Vancouver

A modern design home is nearing completion in Vancouver, BC.

This design is constructed with insulated concrete forms and features a large shed roof over the main living area supported by glulam beams. There is also a large deck on the south side overlooking a lake. The bottom level was designed as a rental unit.

The house has turned out great! In the photos you can see that the exterior finishes are done and only landscaping remains outside. We hope to have some more pictures to share in the near future. To learn more about this project, visit the project page: http://www.clemdesign.com/ProjectPages/Samson/Samsonproject.htm

Mid-Century Modern home progresses

The Irvin residence is taking shape. It has been quite a while since I posted anything here as it has been a very hectic summer so far! But, I thought this would be a good way to get back into the groove.

The Irvin residence is a mid-century modern style design that is currently under construction near Lawrence, KS. The Irvin's are a young couple that wanted something different. They like mid-century style homes, but they wanted to build new on their land in the country. I designed this home around their aesthetic desires, their needs and the building site.

The home sits on a north facing, wooded hill. With no real prospect for solar gain, the home was designed to take advantage of the view of a valley to the north. It features a low sloped, gable roof supported by large glulam beams. The beams leave the living, dining and kitchen areas open as well as add aesthetic appeal. There is also plenty of glass to bring the outdoors indoors. The master suite and an office make up the rest of the main floor. There are two additional bedrooms and a family room in the basement. The garage is separate from the house but connected with a screened breezeway.

You can see more pictures of this home on our projects page here:
http://www.clemdesign.com/ProjectPages/Irvin/Irvinproject.htm and you can see more of our designs here: http://www.clemdesign.com/Designs.html.

I will post more on this house as it nears completion.

Green Building is for Everyone

Green Building can mean different things to different people. I often see this as different levels of green building. To some people, any building constructed to a higher energy efficiency level than the minimum code is considered green. While other people consider only the highest level of energy efficiency green. And yet another group not only requires high energy efficiency, but also reduced environmental impact from a material usage standpoint.

But I think most people are willing to settle for the middle ground; a home with better energy efficiency than what is required by code as well as a home that incorporates building materials that are either recycled and/or sustainable.

Accomplishing this is fairly easy and relatively inexpensive! One of my biggest irritations is why all buildings are not designed and constructed to be more energy efficient. For a home, higher energy efficiency can easily be accomplished by thicker walls with more insulation, insulating the rim joist, more insulation in the attic, proper sealing of penetrations and openings, and better doors and windows. These changes can dramatically increase the energy efficiency of a home yet may only add $1000 to the total cost. The energy savings alone will pay for this extra cost in as little as 3 years. For the life of the home, a more efficient home will require less energy every month and year than most other homes.

Any builder that does not offer an energy efficiency/green building package as an option is either lazy, not too bright, or maybe both. Being as these ideas are so mainstream, offering higher energy efficiency or green materials is a way to differentiate themselves and attract additional, potential buyers. This is not rocket science, it is more like marketing 101!

Many green building materials are readily available from local suppliers today. Examples of these include: reclaimed wood beams, dimensional lumber and flooring, cellulose insulation, some tile and counter top materials as well as some carpeting and natural flooring materials. Another example of a green building material is wood harvested from a forest managed in way to ensure sustainability. Cellulose insulation is a viable option in most areas today. Reclaimed lumber is typically available but may be more costly than newly produced wood. However, reclaimed lumber has characteristics difficult or impossible to obtain from new wood sources. Many of the other materials are readily available but may be more costly than more common materials.

Green Building is not hard and is available to everyone who is willing to search out or demand more than the minimum. Life is too short to accept what you don’t really want, especially when it involves what is probably one of the most expensive purchases of your life.

ICF Safety

I have told people for a long time: The only way to have a home safer and stronger than an ICF home is to live in a cave! I believe this is true and the pictures below illustrate this point very well.

I found these pictures while perusing the net and thought they were so incredible that I had to share them. I do not know who took these pictures or what ICF system was used in the construction of these homes (if the owner of these pictures objects to their use here, contact me and I will remove them).

Which ICF system used is somewhat irrelevant in regard to the strength of the finished home. All ICFs use some system of reinforced concrete as the structural wall. This makes all ICF wall systems very strong. Things you should consider as a consumer when selecting ICFs for your home are: quality of the ICF supplier, quality of the installer, location of the manufacturing plant, total insulation value of the ICF system, type and configuration of the ICF webs, compatibility with proposed finish systems, configuration of the structural system, and engineering data available.

The first picture shows an ICF home that had a very, very close brush with a tornado. You can see that two conventional homes in close proximity were leveled while the ICF home remained intact. I suspect that any conventional home located in the same place would have been leveled like the neighboring homes.

The other picture is of an ICF home that was hit by the storm surge from hurricane Katrina (as I understand it). You can see that the ICF home is still standing and relatively unscathed while every other home in the area has been swept away.

These pictures just illustrate the incredible strength of an ICF home. There is nothing quite like living in a home with solid reinforced concrete walls. I know it gives my wife peace of mind. Structural strength is just an additional benefit to the energy efficiency of an ICF wall system.

ICF House Plans

There are thousands and thousands of different house plans available from designers, architects, plan books and on the internet. But virtually none of these have been specifically designed to utilize ICFs or insulated concrete forms.

Framed construction is the most common form of residential construction, so most designers do not create many plans specifically for ICFs. But many designers are often willing (sometimes at no charge) to modify their plans for a client who wishes to utilize ICFs. I do not charge extra to modify one of my existing plans for ICFs or to design a new home using ICFs.

While ICFs are a fairly common building material, some aspects of ICF home construction differ from more traditional stick-frame construction. One main difference is the thickness of the walls. The most common ICFs use about 6” of concrete in the middle of the wall. Then there is a layer of foam on either side, typically 2” to 2 ¾”. This brings the total wall thickness to 9” or 9 ½”. Standard 2x4 framed walls are only 3 ½” thick while 2x6 walls are 5 ½”.

In most rooms of a home, the additional wall thickness is no problem. Without a tape measure, you cannot tell the difference between a living room that is 22’ across from one that is 21’-6”. However, in small rooms such as a bump out for a master bath, this extra wall thickness can reduce the interior space by too much. This is easily fixed by slightly increasing the exterior dimensions of that area. Small rooms against exterior walls is one area to be aware of when converting a plan to utilize ICFs.

The floors of multistory ICF homes do not use stacked platforms between stories as with stick-framed homes. Typically, ledgers are attached to the ICF walls with special steel brackets to support the floor platform. This configuration allows the ICF wall to be continuous from the footing to the roof. There are no issues with this configuration; it is just different than stick framing.

But be assured that virtually any home design can be converted to utilize ICFs with a little effort and at possibly no extra cost. If you really want an ICF home, check with your designer to see if they can modify the plan for you. If not, many ICF manufacturers provide a list of designers who are very familiar with this product. ICFs are a great product; don’t let your plans hold you back.