Comments on: PREFAB FRIDAY: Loblolly House

By: Inhabitat » New Green Prefab from LivingHomes & KieranTimberlake!

Inhabitat » New Green Prefab from LivingHomes & KieranTimberlake! — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:42:23 +0000

[...] conscious, award winning architects Kieran Timberlake always manages to amaze us with stunning residential designs that define the true synthesis of green building and architectural excellence. We’ve also been [...]

By: Stef

Stef — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:16:00 +0000

This wood frontage is quite simply sublime!(destructuration?) Very elegant, I love it, Thanks!

By: CoolBoom » Blog Archive » Loblolly House by Kieran Timberlake Associates LLP

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 17:22:57 +0000

[...] inhabitat Filed under Interior Design, Architecture | RSS [...]

By: Lost in Anywhere » Loblolly House

Lost in Anywhere » Loblolly House — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:48:45 +0000

[...] Inhabitat » PREFAB FRIDAY: Loblolly House [...]

By: Carol

Carol — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 23:07:15 +0000

absolutely awesome and spectacular view

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 07:47:21 +0000

That ceiling just kills it for me Random linear strip wood exterior combined with structured, regular patterned windows on the front facade ruined by that stepped panel ceiling! I’m sure a better solution could have been found (and don’t get me started on those butt ugly ceiling fans!) without repeating either of the fenestration schemes of the facades.

By: goarch76

goarch76 — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:06:49 +0000

jf Suzzarini – The structure isn’t steel, it’s extruded aluminum, which allows for MUCH tighter tolerances than either wood or steel, which both require a fair amount of field measurement, shimming, etc. The tolerances on this house are in the range of just a couple millimeters. This allows all the house’s elements to be designed and fabricated without the added time/effort/money required for field measurement or verification. Try that with wood or steel! As for insulation, stressed skin insulated panels are significantly more efficient that a standard stud wall with batt insulation, to say nothing of the cinder block construction you Euros are so fond of.

By: jf Suzzarini

jf Suzzarini — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:23:35 +0000

@€ric : The main question is not about glazing. We know how to make really efficient ones. I myself use large openings in the houses I build.The question is about the structure itself , made of steel, which is not know for being thermaly efficient nor comfortable. It seems funny to me to see USA, known for being the country of wood houses building this type of construction, when some european countries rediscover the advantages of wood !

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 13:22:51 +0000

>> What can be the thermal efficiency of such a construction ?

>> i wonder whether it would be able to keep the cold out

I propose a Inhabitat window/glazing topic for a future date. Notable preafbs from the lower priced LV up to luxury models like the those of Marmol Radziner feature significant stretches of glass. I’m a glass fan myself so it’s with some consternation that I continue to see the above questions repeated with little or no response. Glass can be really effecient if done properly so it could be interesting. Just a thought.

By: cj

cj — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:08:01 +0000

I love it!. like Zoe says, how much?. Althought it looks awsome and appears to be comfortable, i wonder whether it would be able to keep the cold out. it looks like it could be daafty during the colder months.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 21:22:26 +0000

Lots of questions as to affordability. This house could never become affordable if no one takes the plunge to build the first one. Sure, this one was somewhat expensive ( it’s all relative) when thought of in finished square foot living area. However, during this process multiple complexities and strategies were worked out and the systems are now capable of being supplied, manufactured or assembled efficiently for quick site installation.
Oddly enough the modules, even in this original house, were less expensive, of (I believe) higher quality, and quicker to build than if they were to be constructed on site with skilled labor. This is mainly due to ” building it twice”. First, in a 3D computer model where all structural, mechanical and finish details are perfected, Second in the shop where it becomes as simple as outputting for CNC cutting, producing the sub-assemblies and installing finishes. Site time (which is notorious for wreaking havoc on schedules, and therefore costs) is minimized and quality control is set to a higher standard. Further unknowns such as skill levels, weather delays and scheduling conflicts are minimized or removed from the process.

By: jf Suzzarini

jf Suzzarini — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:53:55 +0000

For a European, it looks fragile, unfinished, anti-ecological (steel structure and aluminium windows) and unconfortable ! What can be the thermal efficiency of such a construction ? Energy in The USA is cheap but carbon pollution is the same everywhere all over the world.

By: Julie Niemeyer

Julie Niemeyer — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:38:13 +0000

I love it but what is “affordable”? Replace round pretreated poles with steel piling for more streamlined look and added durability.

By: Nicky Chang

Nicky Chang — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:50:04 +0000

two concerns: maintainence of the poles and, yet again, cost. that includes transportation of the parts and on site assembly labor. hope the poor interns/grad school students aren’t part of the budget this time.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:31:39 +0000

A lot of architects and designers hung up on modern lines could learn a lot from this house; it manages to maintain clean modern lines without being cold and sterile.

By: John Johnson

John Johnson — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 19:30:01 +0000

Beautiful! Looking to retire to Honolulu would love to have something like this there. How much is it?

By: Richie

Richie — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:30:45 +0000

Nice design. Definitely a step forward. A few comments/thoughts:

1) Importing skilled labor to create the kitchen & bathroom areas probably would have been more cost effective than fabricating them as ‘modules’ offsite. If large segments were able to be trucked to the site, and once there, hoisted into place by heavy machinery… bringing in mobile homes, or trailers, for temporay worker housing probably was doable ? Certainly, these mobile dwelling units would be no larger than the machinery used to transport and hoist the ‘modules’ and cladding into place ?

2) Grass growing on the roof would appear to do away with rainwater catchment from the roof into cisterns ? I think that not being able to ‘harvest’ rainwater is a minus.

3) I’m of the impression that treated wood ‘utility poles’ only have a lifespan of about 50 years before rot and termites require their replacement. Accordingly, doing what is routinely done in the tropics, which is to use hollow core Aluminum ‘utility poles’, might have been a better choice ?

Essentially, what this design is is an aluminum ‘moment frame’ set atop a pole frame ‘cradle’, which is then clad with a panelized system. Overall… a very good idea !

By: girl600

girl600 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:17:32 +0000

I’m glad I subscribed to your email list. This is great. I’ll be posting this one on my page. I’m hoping I can ride by there and see it one day.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 04:53:06 +0000

First, more credit needs to go to the builders of the Loblolly. KTA has the big ideas and the aesthetic, but they went to Bensonwood in NH for the execution and the systems: http://www.bensonwood.com/prodserv/openbuilt/index.htm

Bensonwood is a strange company, an incredibly sophisticated panelizing / modular / systems company hidden behind a traditional timber framing aesthetic.

I’m an architect, and without a contractor as an equal partner, you can’t move projects this off paper and out into the world… KT has produced something special here, but they were part of a larger team that also deserves recognition.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 00:48:34 +0000

Looks quite nice. I agree that the round pilings look out of place on a house that is made up of so many right angles. the “house up on pilings” is quite common in coastal areas, noting new about that in this setting. That concept will be a harder sell inland where folks love their basements. Most of the impact to the ground below is coming from the septic system I’d wager. Another hard sell to the local homeowner association will be the unique look of the side elevation.