Maurer House wins Governor General's Award
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05.20.06
The Governor General's Award for Architecture is Canada's most prestigious, and the selections by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada are usually pretty interesting. the Maurer House by Florian Maurer is of interest because of the architect's statement: "No tree was cut, no rock was blasted, no contours remodelled. The 4 pavillion-like buildings surrounding the trees in the centre form a private, tranquill garden. The simple shed roofs flow with the land toward a splendid view of Okanagan Lake."
"Form-Follows-Physics" guided the design: simple roofs, no roof intersections, large overhangs, good ventilation, finishes that are durable and appropriate to the climate: tile flooring, metal cladding and -roofing, state-of-the-art soft coated Low-E glazing.
Placement of buildings, roof overhangs, existing mature trees, performance of glazing product, thermal capacity of concrete slab and tile flooring, all reduce heat gain in summer and made air conditioning unnecessary.
The esthetics of the glulam post-and-beam structure were allowed to stand on their own. ::Florian Maurer via ::Land+Living and ::MocoLoco
How about security against intruders?
Fire, flood, mudslide resistant landscaping?
Well like most people that have a view of Okanagan Lake, minor details as such aren't a problem.
Not exactly an energy efficient design though. doesn't even have appropriately designed eaves.
A tremendously attractive house.
Looks simple to build. Simply use less glass in exterior panels in colder climates.