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North Woods Home-House Warming
It's always a pleasure to spend time with a client upon the completion of their new home or addition. As an architect, seeing how we helped our client achieve their vision is the most rewarding aspect of our work. I was recently invited to spend a weekend at the recently completed vacation home of Bill and Kathy Radostits. (See previous blog here). The home was just as they had dreamed, and when we arrived, they had just spent the previous weekend with the home filled with family. They enjoyed the flow of the home, the openness of the views to the lake, the seating at the large kitchen island that provides a great gathering area while meals were prepared. The custom dining table was ideal for large gatherings for meals, while the seating around the fireplace provided a relaxing area for casual conversation.
Our design philosophy is summarized by our trademark slogan "Define your own sense of home". It is the basis for our design, taking the client wish list and transforming into a home that meets the lifestyle of their individual family needs and tastes. We were again successful in transforming our client's ideas into reality.
Continue to full blog entryOrangery Home, Part II-Design Decisions
Before proceeding too far in the design development, a Design Charrette meeting was held, a first step in the LEED for Homes certification process. The meeting included Patrick and Rosalie McVay (owners), Bill Styczynski (architect), Brandon Weiss (builder), Jason LaFleur (LEED provider) and others to discuss the various strategies as it pertains to the LEED certification process. The home is currently on track to obtain LEED Platinum certification. The McVay's have spent a long time thinking about what they wanted their home to be before starting this process, with an emphasis on an affordable high performance green home with minimal energy usage, which is then offset by renewable energy (net- zero energy home). Based on the Charrette, the design process is well underway.
An important key to the success is this project is to evaluate the various energy conservation strategies, including alternate wall and roof systems, mechanical systems, passive solar strategies and various renewable energy sources. The home will be approximately 2,400 square foot home with 3 bedrooms, located in Wheaton, Illinois. One of the key design elements of the plan is a room called an "Orangery" that will be used for passive solar heating of the home during the colder months of the year. The Orangery will be located on the long face of the home that faces due south. Shading will be provided through overhangs to allow for direct sunlight to enter the home during the colder months while blocking direct sunlight in the warmer months. The concrete floor will act as a thermal mass that will absorb heat from the direct sunlight throughout the day, and then passively heat the home when that heat is released over time. The Orangery will also have an operable sliding glass wall that will allow the McVay's to control how and when the heat absorbed in the Orangery is released into the rest of the home.
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