Studio III architects

Best of Houzz 2016

Studio III has won “Best of Houzz 2016”. This is the third year that Studio III has received this award for having one of the top 3% of design professionals’ portfolios on the popular Houzz residential design site. This year Studio III was also designated a “Houzz Influencer”, for those professionals whose knowledge and advice are most highly valued by the Houzz community. Visit Studio III…

First, most obviously, is the larger lot. The Middlebury site is a snug fit thanks to several competing setbacks, so the extra breathing room on a large site allows much more flexibility in placing the house. The house was placed on the north side of a clearing, so no trees had to be removed to get the best use of solar gain.

Second is the foundation structure. The dramatic topography of the Middlebury lot meant the inhabitable space would “float” over an unconditioned, partially open space, using either piles or concrete walls. On the flat plain where the Lincoln house sits, rather than go to the expense of digging and building typical concrete foundations and then insulating the floor cavity, we decided to go with a system used often by Maine Passive House designer Chris Corson: a raft slab foundation. In this system, an 8″ concrete slab is poured over a raft of 12″ thick EPS foam. The foam works both as the main floor insulation keeping heat in the house, as well as a blanket to keep the natural heat of the earth under the building, preventing frost from forming that would otherwise affect the integrity of the foundation. The 8″ slab is thick enough that no separate footings are required for structural reasons.

But apart from these differences, the house exhibits the same beauty and efficiency as the one in Middlebury. The various lessons we’ve learned and details we’ve revised from the first house have thus far contributed to a shorter period of construction relative to the first house (helped along by a very light start to winter). With Silver Maple Construction at the helm, we’ll have the quality of construction needed to get this house certified as the next Passive House in Vermont.

Studio III architects adopts The 2030 Challenge

Studio III architects has adopted the 2030 Challenge! The primary objectives of the 2030 Challenge are: – to achieve the dramatic reduction in global fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions of the built environment by changing the way cities, communities, infrastructure, and buildings, are planned, designed, and constructed and; – the regional development of an adaptive, resilient built…

Educating the Next Generation – The Passive House Gets a Visit

Just before Thanksgiving, the Passive House was graced by students from the STEM Academy, part of the Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center in Middlebury, VT. For anyone interested in pursuing careers in engineering and architecture, the opportunity to tour a Passive House is a chance to see the future of building standards in action. The students were guided by lead architect Gregor Masefield,…

Passive House Construction Continues – Blower Door Test Results

At our last update, penetrations for the utilities had been installed, the TJI’s were almost completely installed, and the windows were about to be installed. Construction was thus approaching a critical milestone: the first blower door test. The test is simple: a box fan with a precision pressure measurement device (called a manometer) is installed and sealed to the front door opening. All the…

Passive House Construction Continues – 9/25/15

Framing continues at the Passive House. The once cavernous interior space has given way to more recognizable rooms. Along with pipes and electricity, the guts of the high-efficiency air exchange unit by Zehnder are on display. On the exterior, the window frames and TJIs have just finished being installed.  The TJIs serve two purposes: They define the box that will hold about a foot of…

Passive House Construction Continues – 9/2/15

After the slow but steady pace of the foundation’s construction, the rest of the house seems to spring up while your head is turned. The posts one week, then the floor trusses the next, and most recently the balloon framing and roof trusses. The second floor trusses are next in line and will more fully define the interior space. The rough openings of the windows are already framing beautiful…

Passive House Construction Continues – 8/7/15

A construction site without the construction becomes, simply, a site. But this isn’t just an earthwork sculpture. Lone pipes, cast-in-place sill bolts, and antennae-like structural ties all await their turn in the process. They hint at the even more complex work yet to come.

Construction is in progress at the prototype Passive House!

Construction is in progress at Studio III architects’ prototype Passive House! As the foundations get their finishing touches, we reflect on how reality can force upon us design choices we wouldn’t otherwise expect. The original design called for screw pile foundations drilled into the soil as a way to float the main volume above the ground and reduce our carbon footprint by avoiding the use of…

Terrance Hayes could have been so many things….I’m sure we’ll never know half of them, but he could have been a professional basketball player, or a fine arts painter, but rather by chance, he became a poet…..

His poetry is amazing and reminds me of architecture…in that it chases and touches all the themes of our lives without us really knowing it. I like poetry but must admit I couldn’t tell you…

What is architecture?

There are MANY ways to explain it… but this little video does an exceptionally good job of illustrating what it is and why it’’s important. Bjarke Ingels’ “Worldcraft” is an inspiring and important reminder for architects, but more importantly, a message for people who wonder “what is architecture?”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyNGDWnmX0U#t=355

“Clean these rivers?!” a question or an exclamation…? This is an amazing idea…to clean New York Cities Hudson and East River….to the extent that you could swim in them?! Yes, check out Archie, Jeff and Dong’s idea for a public, floating, swimming pool that actually cleans the river.

Videos! http://vimeo.com/69988699?from=outro-embed

http://www.pluspool.org/images-and-video/

The project also…

  Who is Louis Zamperini, and why his is a true Hero? Well the BEST telling of his story is in the book Unbroken…definitely give this a read! Truly amazing and far beyond what these video links can convey. Mr. Zamperini died on Wednesday July 2nd 2014.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9O5yVzc0vQ

The ordeal of surviving the pacific; https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Louis-Zamperini-Adrift-in…

Studio III architects’ Hero Wednesday: World’s Tallest Lego Tower

A heroic endeavor indeed!! The world’s tallest Lego tower!! Epic! What more can I say?!

http://sobadsogood.com/2014/05/29/amazing-lego-creation-breaks-world-record-budapest/

Studio III architects’ Hero Wednesday: Graphene!

Graphene….I don’t know….the next wonder material??  Sounds a little scary…but really quite amazing.  Makes me feel like we might be living “back in the good ole days”

  http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/01/22/graphene-a-21st-century-wonder-discovery?videoId=276530220

  You’ve probably seen all you need to ….but….if you’re still interested…

  http://www.archdaily.com/508576/six-miracle-materials-t…

Studio III architects’ Hero Wednesday: NEW vs. OLD!

Controversy over NEW vs. OLD!

You love your old sneakers….so you save em and get new ones….or Huck the stinky old ones, or??

  Ok how about your car, or phone?!  Old vs. New?

  Maybe it’s more of a cultural question.  Sure some things we love new and others we love because they’re old.  From there it can be simplified to individual preference.  Let’s face it, some like to go antique collecting…