The Story
The primary focus was to build a house that reflected the clients passion for modern urban living . The ‘Gillespie’ House is house design with sustainable principles on a tight lot. The site itself was challenging in both its small size and multifamily zoning. The surrounding area is an eclectic mix of charming craftsman homes and apartment buildings. The aim was to create an entirely appropriate intervention in a conventional street. Early on the decision was made to go with surface parking rather than a garage to both allow more space for the home and avoid the “garage door dominated” front façade look. This also speaks to the clients lifestyle as they commute more on bicycles than they do in cars.
Early in the process, it was also decided to locate the living level on the upper floor to capture views and allow privacy without curtains. This house reinterprets the idea of home and downtown living, and serves as home, office, and rental apartment to make this project architectural and functional compact and affordable. It is enveloped in cedar, metal and concrete with large expansive windows that take advantage of winter solar gains and allow shading devices to shield from the summer heat gains. The final design was realized through the creation of three simple elements; a horizontal volume, a vertical volume and a folded plane.
Sustainable Elements:
- Double insulated wall system
- Fly Ash concrete cladding
- Reclaimed wood and metal cladding
- Solar powered hot water tank
- Bullfrog energy supplied
- Green Roof and patio
- Radiant in floor heating
- On site water retention and pervious walkways / laneways
- Passive cooling stack effect openings
- Green “earth walls”
- Passive cooling stack effect openings
- Passive solar heat gains (concrete mass collectors)