Archetype Competition Winner Selected (yawn)
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 06.30.06
The "Archetype for the Living City" competition winner was announced this week: the Toronto design team comprised of
architects Anne Stevens (Fort Architect Inc), Clelia lori (lori Architects) and Christina Carydis, Interior Designer Terrell Wong (Stone’s Throw Design), Mechanical Engineer Al Davies (Ecologix), Industrial Design Student Sunmee Kim, and Real Estate advisors McKellar Associates Inc. The point of the competition was to create a prototype of a green house that developers could build, and the program alienated many designers who consider 50 foot suburban lots to be as evil as the houses on them. The winning designers themselves say that the house " does not alienate either the consumer or the builder" i.e. predictable, don't rock the development industry boat if you want to get this built. In our first view of the entries, this one got points for building a nice model but otherwise didn't even show up on our radar. We would have preferred a more flexible program and a more exciting solution but hey, we don't have to build it. ::Design Exchange for an incomprehensible website- try and connect the winners to the teams.
• LEED-gold and EnergyStar for New Homes environmental ratings mean the house is a high performance building designed and built to high standards of sustainability, good indoor air quality and high energy efficiency
• The house is comfortable, spacious and accessible. It does not alienate either the consumer or the builder
• Building Blocks from A to Z give the home buyer real choices – more than just finishes and minor upgrades
• Zero lot-line design and flexible modules adapt to urban, row and infill sites
• The renovation-ready attic can be finished by the homeowner with a minimum of cost,waste or disruption – allowing the house to grow and change with the family
• The barrier-free design of the ground floor allows the house to adapt as families change and age, reducing the need for families to move and accommodating multi-generational families
• The adaptable garage can grow and change over time to become a guest suite, rental apartment, home office, studio or workshop
• The green roof on the garage reduces heat island effect and storm water run-off
• Sun shades create shade on the south side of house, reduce interior solar heat gain and create a series of shaded patios and courtyards
• The engineered wetland wastewater system treats all household wastewater, reduces the load on municipal services and creates a beautiful common amenity space
• Native species and climate-appropriate plants need little water, mowing or maintenance and reduce the demand on municipal services
• The geothermal heat source harnesses the earth’s free heat
• Environmentally preferable and locally-sourced materials reduce impact of harvesting and transporting materials
• Material efficient framing reduces the materials harvested for the house
• R40 roof and R30 walls mean the homeowner will enjoy a snug home and low fuel bills
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Some improvements from an honest-to-goshness city dweller:
- Ditch the garage and make it a rowhome. I mean, how is car sharing going to take off if everybody still has their own car?
- Instead of wood framing, use bricks. They're more durable. My brick house with a native stone foundation is over 100 years old, and the walls are still sturdy and maintenance free. Double layer brick with 1" of airspace in between. If they really wanted to get crazy with it, put blown cotton between the walls.
- Don't use an asphalt roof. Use something that lasts longer like slate or clay tiles. My dad told me a story about a building designer from Europe who came to see one of the Federal projects he was working on and commented that they'd never use asphalt shingles in Europe because they only last 20-30 years before needing replaced.
In other words: Build a house that will last at least 100 years. Need design tips? Stop by my house! (Just be sure to call first!)
It may be boring but it works. If you had bothered to read the 200 page document you would have realized the work involved. P.S. I am an architect and the model was my first and hopefully only.
The roof is metal and the walls wood beacause they are sustainable if built properly. Try to design something that intense in 6 months if you dare. p.s I was 8 months pregnant.
I work in affordable housing, and in midwestern suburban/rural locations promoting green housing. Our goals are energy efficiency and healthy homes achieved through thoughtful, quality construction. I see this and my first thought is "maybe we could use this." The issues of not alienating builders/buyers is incredibly REAL - we struggle to get homes with garages that don't push further forward than the porch, let alone detatched or off the rear! (Builders say they don't sell.) In this design, the garage could easily be left off in those few urban sites where a garage-less home could be sold. (I can't think of any locations in the US where that would be appropriate and this would be the appropriate use of the land).
Roofing styles in Long Island,Nassau and Suffolk County, New york by New Roof Long Island.
http://www.newrooflongisland.com
Roofing Styles,Nassau County