Friday, September 30, 2011

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.



Wednesday, September 14, 2011

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.