There is excellent software out there today for studying the behavior of light within a space. With a little effort, our 3D model can be explored as shown above with the rendering of natural daylight only. This helps in the placement of windows and getting a better sense of the ultimate play of light on each surface.
Additional studies here: Renderings on Flickr
We’ve hashed through numerous ideas for a concept on the house, and here are the main three:
Determining the overall size of the house is a challenge on such a narrow site. We’ve talked about everything from a narrow tube like open plan to a central courtyard layout that takes advantage of as much morning winter sun as possible. The adjacent bungalows are fairly low compared to Victorians along other nearby streets, so respecting their scale only adds to the challenge.
The Denver zoning code puts restrictions on overall height and location of your house on each lot. The emphasis in our neighborhood is on a good sized setback from the street, the bulk of the house within the center area of the lot, and a lower garage near the back of the lot.
TOD’s is a buzzword making the rounds in city planning circles. It’s ironic that it’s really just a throwback to what happened with the old trolly and local rail lines from over a hundred years ago. The idea is that retail and higher density housing grows around stations and results in satellite hubs spread out around a larger city.
The light rail project has kick-started a large number of development efforts up and down the I-25 corridor. Some of these are already in place (prior to the opening of the line this November 17th) while others are only a concept sketch.
I’m very happy that we have found a spot for a house so close to the only “kiss and ride” station on the new line. With a few blocks walk to public transportation, a grocery store (Wild Oats) and Old South Pearl Street just around the corner, it’s the stuff great neighborhoods are made of!
Ok, we are getting serious now, and we realize we are faced with several challenges
Goal:
To create a modern home, utilizing eco-conscious measures and materials, for our family of four.
The site:
Typical metro Denver residential neighborhood lot with 1 1/2 story bungalows to the north and south. Lot size 37 x 140
The process:
Explore and use any delivery method necessary to build a 2300-2500 square foot home for $140 to $165 square foot.
Context:
Historically, a strong inner metro housing market that has slowed slightly within the last year, but at much less noticeable pace than the outlaying suburbs.
Although the house dates back to 1912 there was little historical value still present. Nancy’s background is preservation carpentry, and I’ve got a lot of experience in historic rehab projects. We’ve saved many old buildings and houses in the past, but those had significant historic character. Nonetheless we are conflicted about the idea of tearing this one down.
We thought about keeping the original footprint and adding on to it so that we could fit a house with a large courtyard on this narrow lot. However, trying to retain the original building (700SF) and add on to it would compromise it and look out of place in the neighborhood.
After honest evaluation we decided that saving this structure is not the place to focus our efforts. We should be concentrating on something new that fits in with the scale and massing of the neighborhood.
There is still nothing better than hashing out ideas on trash paper. Check out this flickr set of sketches where we explore many different plan layout concepts:
The joy. Picking up our street permit parking sticker really struck home on the foresight and planning that has gone into making the Louisiana Street Light Rail Station a true neighborhood bonus. It is the first tangible thing that we’ve put our hands on to become a part of this street and of this great public transit project in Denver. Long live the light rail.
Boulder is known for it’s tenacious commitment to sustainability at all levels. From government all the way down to the single family house, recycling, energy conservation, etc. is paramount. We were excited when the flyer came via e-mail that they hold a solar and green home tour each year. However, after asking around, we were forewarned that even though the technologies used might be highly advanced, we should not count on any great modern design being a part of it! Luckily, the first house we hit was done by a cool Boulder Firm called Vast. Using SIPS and a solar water panel heating system combined with great space layout and design, this kept us intrigued for the better part of an hour. The other three houses were “design challenged” and not particularly inspirational.
Boulder Solar and Green Home Tour Site: Center for Resource Conservation
