hanrahanMeyers architects: Holley House

Holley House

Location: Garrison, New York
Designers: Victoria Meyers and Thomas Hanrahan

Holley House is a contemporary residential project where site landscape elements of wood and stone fuse to create a house. Holley House is a cedar clad, wood frame house with wood floors and decks. Two stone walls running north-south divide a lower lawn and living pavilion from an upper ridge and master bedroom pavilion. A guest wing is suspended between the two pavilions and between the two stone walls.

The house is experienced as a sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces accessed through the cedar pavilions. It opens mostly to the south, east and west, to provide winter solar heat gain, with roof overhangs protecting the interior from summer sun. Skylights above the fireplace, in the guest wing, and the entry area bring in solar lighting. The experience of the house moves from nature to water, and from stone to wood.

What Makes it Green

• Site: House construction planned for minimal site disturbance. House construction entailed demolition of one tree only. All other trees on site maintained during construction process, with full site protection barriers install to minimize site erosion and damage. All site topographies left untouched, except where site swales were required to accommodate site rain water run-off.

• Site Entry Drive: Re-used existing gravel drive from original site, with new gravel bed installation for minimal site disturbance.

• House Site Location: Sited house foot-print to maximize re-use of existing concrete foundation to minimize disturbance of plant species on site (note: the site is a 25 acre wooded site, with no construction on it. There was an existing concrete foundation pad where a house had been planned sometime in the past but never built). The owner also purchased an adjacent pond and acreage around the pond for future conservation of the site with plans to possibly donate pond and adjacent wetlands the to Nature Conservancy.

• Wood (Exterior): Sustainably harvested Cedar siding and wood fascia in Deck Soffit.

• Stone (Interior and Exterior): Local stone from the site was recycled from blasted area to create Garage, with supplemental stone from a local quarry.

• Exterior Sun Control: 8’ deep soffit overhangs in front of all windows to increase solar protection.

• Sun Control: Low E-Glass used throughout. Solar shading on all windows to supplement Low-E effectiveness.

• Lighting: Natural Sunlight available for 100% day-lighting in most rooms; All rooms painted white to maximize solar lighting effect. Supplemental natural light in selected interior areas through north facing skylights. All skylights use Low-E Glass.

• GWB: Gold Bond GWB (recycled content).

• Paint: Benjamin Moore ‘Pristine’ non-VOC paint (white).

• Curtains: Living room, dining room, kitchen and bedrooms: organic cotton, wool and silk blend.

• Carpets: Organic linen, cotton and wool blends with no inorganic VOC backing.

• HVAC: Heat: High Efficiency Radiant Heat System. AC: High efficiency with controls locally in each room to reduce energy loads. Ceiling fans located in all bedrooms to distribute heat and AC and reduce energy use. Strategically located windows and air vents in all rooms (including bathrooms) to maximize natural ventilation.

• Plantings: All plantings from local grower, using native New York State species. No artificial fertilizers or pesticides used.

hMa hanrahanMeyers architects donates a percentage of the firm’s yearly profits to the Nature Conservancy and Conservation Fund and have done so since 1997.

Source: hMa hanrahanMeyers architects

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November 2nd, 2009 by signaltree
Posted in Architectual |
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