Modern House Plans by Gregory La Vardera Architect

New Arkansas Plat House - floor deck underway

2013-05-18T12:41:00.001-04:00

This is the first carpentry step in framing the house. Floor deck goes on top of the foundation, and they you are ready to start on the walls. Then it will really start to look like a Plat House!

The builder is using truss joists, or I-Joists, which is good. The Plat House has an 18ft span for the main floor which is pushing it for regular lumber. The I-Joists can be made stiffer, and the floor less bouncy.

Remember the Plat House comes in both 2bedroom and 3bedroom configurations.

New Arkansas Plat House is in the ground!

2013-05-07T23:07:00.000-04:00

We are really looking forward to tracking the construction of three Plat House Projects this spring. The first one out of the gate is a new Plat House in Arkansas.

The footers have been dug, rebar placed, and the men in galoshes are pouring the concrete. It is a good day to commence a Plat House!

Vermont Plat House at sunset

2013-05-07T12:06:00.000-04:00

Just sharing a nice photo with you all:

courtesy of the Vermont Plat House owner - thank you!

Presenting our Research into Swedish Housing, continuing

2013-03-31T16:06:00.000-04:00

Back in September 2012 Scott Hedges and I presented a summary of our research into Swedish building techniques at the Fall conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. That conference was focused on off-site construction. Part of the fall-out from that conference was an invitation to present at another conference, this time organized by Pennsylvania State University's Pennsylvania Housing Research Center and held towards the end of February 2013 in Allentown, PA, and at a Conference on Pre-Fab building in New Zealand in March 2013.

PHRC organizes several conferences each year, notably on Land Development and Housing. These conferences are attended by Developers and Builders, both coming to present their work and to hear about the work of others. This year PHRC for the first time held a conference on Residential Design & Construction which is where our research was presented. The subject matter was broad on all manner of research.

The conferences on Housing and Land Development were held concurrently at the same venue, and there was some mixing of the groups who were free to attend talks in the other events. And these events are annual, so the same kind of gathering will take place next year as well.

We posted a detailed summary of our talk following the September presentation in Philadelphia, so I am not going to re-post it here again. Instead I'll mention that the presentation was altered somewhat from the prior one. I omitted much of the background on the Swedish housing market, and instead incorporated a brief review of the wall systems and Swedish Platform Framing we have based on the Swedish techniques. And no need to review that as there are deep resources about these assemblies already posted here.

However, the PHRC has posted full Proceedings from this event, as well as from the Housing and Land Development conferences. If you are interested you can review the speaker schedules, and if any of the talks interest you the papers & presentations can be downloaded from each event to review the content. A complete summary of our presentation is incorporated into this as well. Start with the PHRC Conference Archive which will provide links to the details of each event. The Housing conference is at the top of the list.

Next, Scott headed to New Zealand to present our research at the PreFabNZ conference in Mid March 2013.

catalog of exhibit organized along with conference

New Zealand is a unique situation with regards to housing and off-site construction. They are under a fairly large building program to replace houses and buildings destroyed and damaged during the Christ Church earthquake in 2011. New Zealand has a robust off-site construction industry, and one that is not quite so conceptually narrow the way American off-site construction is biased towards Modular. In other words they are more open to new ideas surrounding techniques. And last, similar to the US and Sweden there is a large timber resource in New Zealand, with a great deal of lumber being sold off to China. This is an industry well positioned to benefit from developing greater value in their domestic material stream.

Lets boil it down. Need houses. Have wood. Like new techniques. Scott's presentation there was very well received, and he experienced a great deal of sincere interest in the techniques he showed to them. We think New Zealand may be better poised to make advancements than the US simply because their heads are in a better place.

Extensive Plat House mod's continue

2013-03-22T23:28:00.000-04:00

Last month we posted the floor plan of an extensively modified Plat House that was shipping out to a customer in Hawaii. Today we have an equally modified Plat House going out to a customer in Oregon.

While this one also takes off from the 3 bedroom version of the Plat House, the big transformation here is in the living areas, more so than the bedrooms.

Its looking like these two may go under construction at the same time. That would be fun!

Building High Performance Walls, Working with stone wool

2013-03-08T11:04:00.003-05:00

I came across a great series of videos on YouTube from a Swedish catalog house builder showing the insulation steps in completing their walls. This catalog house builder happens to work on site, not in a factory, so its particularly useful for American builders trying a Layered Nordic Wall system like USA New Wall building it on site.

This first video shows the primary wall cavity being insulated. Note how easily the stone wool is cut and handled, and how it friction fits into place without stapling. See that the insulation can be easily slid vertically to fit into concealed areas, such as behind the ledger for second floor joists as in Swedish Platform Framing.

Now in this second video they will be installing the horizontal furring, which in the USA New Wall forms the wiring chase. The astute reader will say "Hey, where is their vapor control layer? They are putting up the furring without it?" If so, good observation. The reason is that this manufacturer builds their wall a little bit differently. This first layer of horizontal furring is mainly to create a thermal break for the studs. After they insulate this layer of furring they will go over this with a vapor control membrane, and then a second layer of vertical furring that forms their wiring space.

This is actually a very effective system, because this second layer of furring is offset from the studs breaking the remaining thermal bridges where the first furring rests across the studs. They get a complete thermal break just like you do with continuous exterior insulation, but none of the complications with window frames and flashing details. Watch them do this in the next video. You'll see that they have a vapor control layer installed around the entire interior, walls and ceiling - interior partitions are not framed yet, only bearing partitions. So you can see how there is an air tight "bag" around the entire conditioned space.

And why is it that you are up on ladders putting adhesive tape all over your sheathing? Its much easier to do air-tight and vapor control at the same place.

Interesting + Informative dialog on implementing USA New Wall & Swedish Platform Framing

2013-02-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

We had this dialog via our Facebook Page this week, and I thought it hit on several common questions about building with USA New Wall & Swedish Platform Framing today, as in right now - not some point in the future when all that is wrong with house building in the US is fixed.

NM: I am a small builder and am interrested in the Swedish Platform and USA New Wall framing. I am curious though if you have any photos or information on how the electrical is installed in the electrical space. Does the electrician need to do any special? Thank you for any information.

LamiDesign: Nothing special really Nathan. If you are using a 2x wiring space then you would use a 4x4x1.5" box, with a switch plate reducer cover - that will extend the 1/2" to the surface of the drywall. The 4x4 box actually has a bit more room inside than a typical single gang new work box, and being shallow makes the electrical work a bit easier IMO. The boxes can be screwed through the back to the main cavity studs, or through the sides into the cross furring - so there are actually twice as many options for where to mount them.

Now if your wiring chase is deeper you may need to shim the box out, or use a deeper box - this would be driven by the sizing of the ledger member. What I mean is, if your floor spans are longer you may want to use a 1 3/4 ledger rather than a 2x. That would be a ledger from a PSL or LVL rather than 2x lumber. So that slightly deeper chase throws off the nice fit of a 1.5" box. For me I think a better option is to notch your joist ends, and lift your 2x ledger up flush with the bottom of the joist, and supplement the bearing with a short joist hanger. With plate nailed trusses they can likely build that notch right in for you. If you are using I joists, then a full height ledger with joist hangers may be easier, but creates more thermal bridging. Official spec for I joists will require 1 3/4 bearing, but 1.5" works fine for small spans IMO. But both those options keep the wiring chase at 1.5".

NM: Thank you for the information, pretty simple solutions really. Any cost analysis on how much more this framing adds compared to traditional Western Platform Framing? I have frequented your website for a few years now and am a fan of your work, a nice change from the norm.

LamiDesign: No - I don't have any cost data. The insulation can be awkward to install at best - working the main wall cavity below the first floor level, and above the ceiling level requires shoving behind a previously installed vapor sheet. You have to apply the vapor sheet in strips that overlap the floor before the floors are in place.

It would be nice if you could insulate the main cavity before tilting the wall up, but this gets into conflict with your framing inspection. If you use Membrane for the vapor control layer, its completely transparent - you could apply it over the whole wall and you can still see the framing, albeit with the insulation in the way. The Proclima product is not transparent, so there is no good way to apply this over the whole wall ahead.

There is no way around these sequence issues, and this is where cost is raised more so than materials. This is why the Swedish Platform Framing really lends itself to off site building.

Guest blogging today at Modular Home Builder

2013-02-15T12:12:00.002-05:00

I am guest blogging today at a modular industry site called Modular Home Builder

MODULAR HOME BUILDER: An Architect Speaks Out About Modern Prefab

This interesting site gathers a readership from the industry side of modular home building. These factory owners and officers often don't understand why Modern PreFab vendors chase after this seemingly narrow slice of the market while it is obvious that most people buy traditionally styled homes. I wrote in to offer my observations on why a business might chase after this seemingly niche market. Check it out.

Ultimately this strikes on the very reasons why we have developed a catalog of modern house plans. There is a small but strong interest in homes like these, and it is an interest largely ignored by the market. Serving this niche is just a smart strategy.

Plat House Mods on the boards

2013-02-02T14:34:00.001-05:00

We are working on an extensive modification to a 3 bedroom Plat House for an customer in Hawaii. We are hoping this will be the next construction project we track here on the blog.

The house includes some interesting changes, such as the rearrangement of the bedrooms to create two master bedrooms. The third bedroom will do double duty as a library/study, separated from the living area with sliding screen walls.

Keep watching for this one here.

This Weeks Top 5 House Plans, Jan 2013 week 4

2013-01-25T12:27:00.001-05:00

Here they are - the most looked at house designs in our catalog for this past week:

In the number one position is the 0242 Plat House, our long standing best seller!

Followed closely by the 0367 Porch House, a favorite weekend cabin.

In the number three position, no surprise, is the 3bedroom version of the Plat House, 0971.

Right on its tales is the much loved 0518 U House.

And rounding out the top five, and just nudging out two other designs by 1 view is the 0751 RS House.

Support Continued Development of USA New Wall & Swedish Platform Framing

2012-12-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

There has been great interest and discussion of these energy efficient wall designs and we have posted a wealth of information about them. Enough for almost anybody to incorporate these techniques into their work. In return we now ask for your support.

Our web pages about USA New Wall and Swedish Platform Framing have quickly become the most popular content on our web site. We're glad that this information is useful to you, and your interest supports our goal of seeing these walls broadly adopted in our housing industry. If you have learned something from this material, taken away new insights or determination to build better, if you have incorporated these walls or elements of these walls into your work or if you plan to, then we want to ask for your further support on a PWYW (Pay-What-You-Want) basis.

What is PWYW? It is exactly what it sounds like. If you've read about these wall designs you've likely already decided whether these designs will be valuable to you. How valuable is your call. Use the link below to make a payment at your discretion. Even if you only want to pay a little now you can always come back if your appreciation grows.

The default charge is $1, but changing the quantity allows you to select any payment amount you wish. Simply change the quantity to set the payment amount you desire.

This support will allow us to continue to develop and promote these wall designs, and more importantly will alleviate me from seeking other more conventional and intrusive methods to fund development. This is not a donation and I am not a non-profit organization. But there is a wide expanse of possibilities between non-profit and a profit driven corporation. This is a cooperative effort and you can play an important part by contributing. I believe that energy efficient construction is the most important issue in housing for the USA right now, and that together we can make a difference by changing the status quo. These wall designs are here for you to use to that end and no matter what amount you choose your payment will help us continue to advance these goals. Thank you.

Although we have posted very detailed information on these wall designs, clearly some readers desire more guidance and more information than can be taken away here. We think that is great and we encourage you to contact us for Consultation. We are eager to help you incorporate this into your work or adapt these designs to what you are building.

Row-house concept - transverse stair plan

2012-12-21T01:06:00.001-05:00

The goal to create a plan that worked at multiple widths has compounded into a plan that works in 2 story, 2 1/2 story, and even 3 story configurations. With two base plans and row-end conditions my mission has suddenly escalated into 48 different house plans.

Clearly the demand for all these variations will not be immediate, and it will be impossible to develop every one in advance of orders. The time to figure that out will come. Meanwhile lets look at the transverse stair plan version of the Row-house.

The organization of the ground floor drives the plan here, with the kitchen in the rear half of the house, the living room in the front half, and the transverse stair in between. We are giving the ground floor a split level with the front living room a few steps up from the kitchen. This is doing several things for us. It gets the floor level at the front of the house up above the street level a bit which increases privacy, and gets the kitchen at the rear closer to the ground level which makes access to the rear courtyard more casual. And since the stair divides the floor level into two spaces the change in level reinforces the definition of the two spaces.

The second floor has a master bedroom at the front, and a second bedroom and bath at the rear. One side of the house becomes a storage wall that can be configured to match the owner's needs.

In a 2.5 story version the stair continues up to the dormered attic level which can become another bedroom, or two, or a home office. In a full 3 story version the third floor can be configured similarly to the second floor, or remain more open for office or family room functions.

The above sketches were all from a 14ft wide version of the floor plan. I've planned out two foot increments for 16 and 18ft wide versions as well. Primarily these wider plans pick up more storage space, and wider connection between the front and back of the house.

The 18ft wide version also includes an expanded variation that adds a family room on to the rear of the house, as well as an additional bedroom at the upper floor. This additional room steps in from the property line to allow the center bedroom and the kitchen to maintain a window.

Next to bring the longitudinal stair version along. When the smoke clears we'll figure out what you need in Construction Prints first.

Row-house concept - looking back

2012-12-16T11:13:00.000-05:00

As we've been experimenting with different row-house arrangements around the front vs rear kitchen location, we are finding that a second great organizational paradigm is an equally critical factor. This would be the matter of a longitudinal or transverse staircase.

What is important to us here is that we are trying to devise a plan that will work well in a range of lot widths. This is a limitation imposed by the mission to make a stock plan or a row house - a single design for multiple situations.

In traditional Philadelphia row-houses there are some common patterns. It is not unusual to be confronted by the stair just inside of the front door. In larger townhouses this actually was a benefit to later conversions to apartments. In smaller homes this longitudinal stair if closer to the rear would deposit you at the back of the house on the second floor. The net impact on the second floor was a double wide circulation zone at the rear of the house that reduced the available width of a rear bedroom. This is not prohibitive, but just a factor that has a greater impact on a narrow house.

This is an approximate floor plan of an 1800s era 3 story row house rented by a friend. It was completely rehabbed at some point in time, and the partitions and room uses are not original to the house.

Transverse stairs are more unusual in these old houses but you can find examples. More common is a hybrid transverse stair plan which was often a feature of deep townhouses that also included an inset on the rear half of the house. The inset let light into the depths of the house, and this kind of transverse stair was also used to offset the rear floor levels from the front half of the house. In these cases the front half of the house might also have higher ceilings and a taller floor to floor dimension. The stair in these examples begins facing the front of the house, but then turns transverse and occupies the space between the front and rear halves of the house, with the mid landing used to resolve the change in floor level.

This is an existing condition plan of an 1800s era row house with an in-set rear from a past project. While the room use is not original to the house, the stair and overall configuration of the house remains.

I don't think it makes sense to directly adopt either of these approaches, but they are revealing about the limitations each approach can project on the rest of the house. The longitudinal stair can impose on the width of the upper level, but makes the opportunity for a loft like open plan ground floor. Where as the transverse stair can be more friendly to the second floor, it does divide the ground floor into distinct spaces. Ultimately both schemes can run out of space if the house becomes too narrow, so there will be a practical limit to the viability of a variable width house design.

Hurricane Sandy Recovery

2012-12-01T10:57:00.003-05:00

ReBuilding Communities Damaged by Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy has devastated miles and miles of shore communities, destroying homes, businesses, public infrastructure, and displacing thousands of residents, merchants, and communities. The state of New Jersey is currently under a state of patch and repair that has created a state wide rush in real estate for displaced citizens, and a mini construction boom in emergency repairs and board-ups. Incredibly this has gone completely against the prior trend and has hit a depressed construction community off-guard and unprepared.

What lies ahead is an unprecedented need to restore these communities, to rebuild with vision, and clarity, to restore the salient qualities of these much loved communities, and an opportunity to correct and improve deeply entrenched deficiencies. Thankfully it appears all involved are committed to taking a long view to these restorations, and it appears regulations and planning will be well considered before anything is rebuilt with haste.

Gregory La Vardera Architect has completed many projects at the New Jersey Shore, and thankfully none have been washed away. As we look forward to the work to come it is our sincere hope that this can be an opportunity to improve the energy performance of all the damaged and affected buildings, and that a higher performance standard can be applied to the homes and light commercial structures that are rebuilt in the affected areas.

We are eager to apply our work in energy performance building systems to the work that is coming, and we offer our service to Home Owners, Builders, Code Officials, and other Architects that may be working on the ReBuilding. Working together we can implement a wide spread improvement to the building stock in these affected communities. We look forward to the challenges ahead.

Row-house concept - pondering townhouse ideas

2012-11-28T08:01:00.000-05:00

Since we are right in Philadelphia's front yard, and since Philadelphia is one of the nations greatest row-house cities, it was only a matter of time until circumstances conspired to pressure us to explore a stock plan of a row-house.

Row-houses are not particularly suited to the idea of house plans. Its not like you can float the house on a lot with yards on all four sides. The lot size becomes the house width, and the prospect of finding a match between a floor plan and a lot size is almost slim to none. So what that means is to offer a stock design for a row house it has to be a flexible design that can work for a range of lot widths. Philadelphia has lots that range from 12ft for the narrowest up to 23 feet for the widest, but most fall between 14-18 ft wide.

Is that really possible? Well that's what we've set out to discover. The first task was to test ideas for the arrangement of interior spaces and functions to see what plans might be tolerant of a variable lot width. Then I'll take my hunches into measured sketches to see if the numbers add up, if the hunch flies.

I want to test two general arrangements, front kitchen or rear kitchen. Each offers some distinct advantages and both are worth seeing through to a schematic level. But for either there would be some ground rules.

Space is a premium in city houses, so some "features" people have come to expect in suburban houses will simply be too extravagant for this exercise. These houses are meant to be modest and affordable homes. For instance, a ground floor powder room is going to be very unlikely. Guests will simply have to go upstairs. And upstairs its unlikely there will be a master suite with a master bathroom, but rather a shared hall bathroom. These are situations that are not uncommon for our modest existing row house stock in cities like Philadelphia, so we will follow the lead of the existing houses, take them as precedent and not try to turn this into a suburban dream house. These are not compromises, but rather this is the status quo if you have ever lived in a 100 year old row home in a city that dates back to the birth of our nation. So lets see where that takes us.

Maine Plat House - quick video tour

2012-11-18T10:56:00.001-05:00

Here is a quick video tour of the open plan living space of the Maine Plat House. Now you can see where the kitchen and masonry heater are in relationship to one another. In fact it connects up a bunch of photo vignettes you've seen.

Maine Plat House gets a masonry heater

2012-11-05T08:36:00.000-05:00

As the Maine Plat House enters the finishing stages we see the installation of a new wood fired masonry heater. What exactly is a masonry heater? It is similar to a wood stove, but it actually performs better, and is more efficient for space heating than a conventional wood stove.

A conventional wood stove typically has an iron or steel fire box, and its operated by feeding wood in continuously through the operation period as it burns. Air flow is typically restricted to achieve a slow burn. The body of the stove radiates heat into the space, and more efficient designs include heat exchangers to take more heat out of the exhaust flow. Generally the body of stove can get very hot, but more advanced models have double walls as part of the heat exchanger and maintain safer temperatures on the outside wall.

A masonry heater by comparison uses a mass of stone or masonry to act as the heat exchanger. In operation the fire burns quickly, and hot, for the most efficient and complete combustion of the wood. The exhaust is channeled through the masonry mass which takes on the bulk of the heat produced, and then radiates that heat into the space over a period of 12-24 hours depending on the size of the mass and the quantity of the burn. So this is much easier to operate, a single burn providing heat for a span of hours, and less feeding and tending of a fire. A good review of the masonry heater basics was recently published at Green Building Advisor.

In all fairness the best contemporary wood stoves are very efficient and mirror many of these characteristics, but the fact is the work on a different premise, and a different cycle. Traditionally a masonry heater was a much more expensive proposition. It would either have to be custom designed and built, and experts in the design of these were few. There are some european pre-fab masonry stoves but they were expensive luxury products once imported into the US. Which brings us to the innovative product used here in the Maine Plat House.

The Maine Plat House Owner has used an innovative new American made modular masonry stove: EcoFirebox is a Maine based company that has created a line of masonry heaters based on their own unique modular system. Prefabbed masonry modules can combine in a range of configurations that allow you to easily configure a masonry heater to your project without all of the traditional custom design. And it also allows the creation of compact masonry heaters making them accessible to a new range of smaller more affordable projects.

Letters from Sweden - Bringing the Message Home

2012-10-17T00:11:00.000-04:00

At the end of September Scott Hedges and myself made a brief presentation of our research into Swedish residential construction systems at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture's fall 2013 conference in Philadelphia. The subject of the conference was Off Site Construction. This was the first formal presentation of our research, and the first step in what will become a more active effort to distribute information about these building techniques.

The conference was well attended mainly by Architecture Educators presenting research into Off Site building techniques. We were among a smaller group of professional and industry speakers invited to talk about current and ongoing practices in the field. The conference did coincide with a meeting of the Modular Building Institute so we did have a small spill over of attendees from the MBI industry meeting.

With the short format of a talk like this, it was not really possible to get into the deep details of the subject matter. There is likely more information posted here under the Letters from Sweden series of posts. But we did cover a lot of ground and framed the innovations that the Swedish technique represents. Here is an even more brief version of our talk.

We covered the topic in three broad parts:
- How Swedish Houses are built
- The Industrial Production Process
- The Industry that builds them.

Scott led off explaining what happens on a Swedish building site the day the house is set. We used a time-lapse movie that Scott made while in Sweden, something that we've posted here before. Scott was able to narrate this and describe what was happening as the build unfolded. This was followed by still photos shot on that same day allowing more of the detail to be observed up close. We briefly looked at the man-hours that went into the placement of the house, and the distribution of all of the on-stie and off-site labor for a typical house build.

I took over at this point to talk about the in-factory process. Given the modular orientation of the American off-site industry we wanted to put the panel centric Swedish industry in context. Sweden also has modular builders. Those modular builders build their modules from wall panels, just like the panel builders do. The point is that the panel fabrication process in Sweden is an industry wide practice. It lends itself to highly automated production lines, or simple manual production lines, hence its adoption throughout the industry.

I briefly explained the panel fabrication sequence, and then did a short review of the adaptation of building components to the off-site production process. We looked at windows, air tightness and sealing, plumbing, and electrical examples.

Scott took over again at this point and gave an overview of the Swedish Housing Industry. A key point here is that the off-site house building industry grew out of the Swedish timber industry, as a mechanism by which they could add value to their building supplies. A large number of the house factories still belong to their Wood Manufacturing industry group

We also looked at the distribution of house builds by firm. A group of about 10 larger factories build about 80% of the Swedish houses. Yet there are many more smaller factories - 20 to 30 - that build the balance of the houses at much lower volume. The point here is that their off-site process has low capital costs for a small factory to implement. Yet it also works for larger factories invested in automation and industrial tooling. The process scales both up and down.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

We fielded several questions after the talk, surprisingly from an architect who did not understand why industrial production house building would be relevant to architects. Such is the state of the profession, but I'm happy to say that the bulk of the architects at our talk understood why this was important, and why architects need to be active in the realm of production housing.

The fall out from this talk has been almost immediate. We've been asked to give the talk at another conference this winter, The 1st Residential Building Design and Construction Conference organized by the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center. Scott is discussing the organization of an MBI industry tour to Sweden so that American manufacturers can see these Off-Site techniques firs hand. A very positive response which we will continue to run with.

Maine Plat House - almost finished

2012-10-12T07:58:00.000-04:00

I recieved a new batch of images from the owner this week showing a Maine Plat House that is nearly ready for occupancy.

I think this builder moved at a good pace and no doubt will have the owner in their house for the bulk of the fall season, which is already well underway in Maine. Best of all, this batch of photos revealed some nice material and equipment choices for the house.

Landscaping work is going on outside, and we see nice stone pavers and stacked stone landscaping walls going in here at the steps to the deck. But we also see some nice cable rails around the deck. Turns out these are a powder coated aluminum railing sourced by the builder. The same rail system is being used inside to great effect.

Also below you can have a glimpse into the utility room in the basement.

Not too much equipment here! How refreshing compared to the submarine engine room that seems to be the result of every energy efficient build I see on the internet. What is going on here is there is a pair of on-demand hotwater heaters, one in the foreground, that provide not only domestic hot water but also hot water for radiant heating loops at both levels of the house. No air-handler or ducts as there is no air-conditioning. The owner said that they have wired for an AC unit, but will brave life without it first. So there is pluming for the radiant heat, and circulation pumps for the zones, but far less equipment than you typically see.

Ok, here is a small photo viewer for the recent photos:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

As always, great thanks go out to our customers who share their house builds with us. We can't wait to see you build yours!

Maine Plat Houes - kitchen & interior progress

2012-09-20T10:32:00.000-04:00

The Kitchen in stall is moving right along at the Maine Plat House. Countertops are the latest addition to the work. Kitchen cabinets are already in place and its looking more finished than not.

The kitchen cabinets are being topped by black granite, with what the owner describes as a "leather" finish. This finishing method seems to wear away the softer mineral grains at the surface leaving a slightly textured non-glossy finish. Advantages over polishes and honing is that it has a closed grain, less susceptible to staining.

Floors are pickled oak, and cabinets are maple, for those interested in what they see here.

Thanks go out to all our customers who share there houses here.

Open Call for a Case Study Customer

2012-09-13T17:29:00.000-04:00

We have a unique opportunity for a customer willing to have their LamiDesign Modern House Plan home serve as a case study for the application of USA New Wall and Swedish Platform Framing.

This customer can be an individual home owner, but the publicity that will surround the project will likely be beneficial to a small developer or builder interested in building their credibility as a provider of energy efficient and green building systems. Ultimately a home owner/developer pairing will provide the greatest benefit to both, a sold home being the most obvious one.

the LamiDesign Lagom House series - a perfect energy efficient case study subject

The benefits to the home owner and builder will be several. First off, the home plan you choose from our collection will be updated to include USA New Wall and Swedish Platform Framing even if the stock plan sets do not include it, at no extra charge. This would be a rather extensive modification service on any of our plans, so this represents a several thousand dollar discount in modification services.

Second, there will be a significant discount in insulation products incorporated into the USA New Wall system due to a informal sponsorship offer that we have received from Roxul. Again this may represent a significant dollar amount, and will take some of the edge off the extra cost of an energy efficient home.

Third, the home will incorporate a new energy efficient floor slab foundation system based on Swedish techniques we have studied. These products will be offered at fabrication/shipping cost, forgoing the typical product mark-up.

And we are working to identify other sponsorships which will benefit the owner and sponsor. Ideally we would like to see this opportunity go to a developer working on affordable housing, either subsidized, or non-profit developer, because we believe strongly that the owners of modest homes, of modest means, are the people that most need energy efficient construction that costs less to own and operate over a lifetime. Clearly further sponsorships will be easier to develop with a non-profit developer.

As a Case Study you can expect an unusual amount of documentation to be done of your home. This may involve photography and videography, as well as interviews on the progress of the work, the outcome, life in the house for a set period of time following completion.

Contact me to discuss your interest, which house design would suit your market, your location, time frame, etc. The time has come for this. This is the very beginning of a wholesale change in the way we build. Its time to lead rather than follow, and by leading here now you will set the stage for your mission to be ahead of the trend. We want to help you do that. We want to prove that it can be done today.

0970 Lagom House West/East version - new in the catalog

2012-09-11T15:35:00.001-04:00

Super happy to announce a new plan set today - the West/East Version of the 0970 Lagom House. The Lagom House was concieved from the start to have a massing that oriented the house to the sun, and as such would have a slightly different version depending on how the building lot was oriented. The Southside version and the Northside version were completed some time ago, so with great satisfaction today we add the final version for building lots on either side of a north/south running street.

In the house design competition that spawned the Lagom House design it was proposed that the house be available in 3 variations, so as to optimize the exposure of the roof surface for solar gain, as well as the seasonal shading of the windows. In a practical manner it also allows a developer to add variety to a neighborhood as the houses change their presentation to the street depending on their location.

When combined with the two story 1192 2 Story Lagom House a builder can offer a satisfying mix of houses, while at the same time enjoying the speed of building and economies that come from building a repetitive design. Score one for smart design.

As with the other Lagom House designs, this new version also incorporates our energy efficient USA New Wall designs in both 2x6 and 2x8 versions. The framing documentation also utilizes our Swedish Platform Framing for added energy efficiency. This is a one of a kind product - there are no other vendor of stock plans that incorporate these advanced energy efficient techniques. The Lagom Houses comprise an off the shelf option for creating an energy efficient neighborhood. Now any small developer/builder can offer the most advanced energy efficient product available in the country without the cost of custom designs.

The door is wide open now. Who is the builder that will take this up, and out-perform their contemporaries in their market? I am looking for you.

XHouse5 - new in the catalog

2012-09-03T22:35:00.000-04:00

As promised the new XHouse5 design has gone live in the catalog this weekend. Design prints are available now, Construction Prints will follow on your demand, or lacking that then when we get to them!

The XHouse5 is a fusion of the the XHouse Collection's mission to introduce a line of modern houses with contemporary design themes, and the energy efficiency mission laid out in our Lagom House designs. The XHouse5 incorporates the energy efficient USA New Wall and Swedish Platform Framing into the Construction Print set as do the Lagom House variations. If you are not familiar with these features, this is our well studied wall system recommendations for building high performance houses with familiar and common materials.

The XHouse5 design is also the narrowest floor plan we've introduced in this 3 bedroom, 2,000sqft range. It will fit on narrow lots, in particular infill sites and new developments following traditional neighborhood patterns. We think this is a good one, and we hope you will like it too.

New design heading for the catalog: XHouse5

2012-08-24T15:48:00.001-04:00

Wait a minute? XHouse5? What happened to 4? Good question. Before we look at this design we'll recap the state of our development efforts.

First: Yes there is an XHouse4 design, and if you follow on twitter or facebook you have seen sketches of it posted. If twitter or facebook are not for you, no worries - our stream of posts on those platforms appear in our MiniBlog on the right hand column right here. So if you keep up with the blog here, even when you see no new posts, you should watch the MiniBlog for updates.

Both the XHouse4 & 5 are similar designs - 2.5 story, 3 bedroom houses, with home offices on the ground floor, and the option for a finished attic floor. Both are in the range of 2,000 - 2,400 sqft, very consistent with our other designs. These houses will follow our Lagom House designs in utilizing our energy efficient USA New Wall high performance construction, and the innovative Swedish Platform Framing method. Both of these techniques debuted in the Lagom House, and the XHouse4 & 5 is our effort to take these into a slightly larger house. Its possible to apply these techinques to any of our designs, but these houses will include the relevant details directly in the Construction Print sets.

The XHouse5 has a an open living dining kitchen plan, with a home office at the front of the house, and a mud room at the rear corner. The kitchen is set into a niche to one side. The house has a front porch and a rear porch with the option to roof and screen one or both of these. So the house is tightly organized with all the utility and plumbing space in this same zone to the side. This repeats on each floor where the bathrooms and laundry occupy the same utility zone. The XHouse5 is a 24ft wide plan, while the XHouse4 is a 28ft wide plan.

Also in the queue are two versions of the Lagom House oriented for narrow lots. For now I believe once these 4 are complete we will stop introducing new designs to the XHouse Group for the time being. We still need to return to the XHouse1, and a few designs from the Original Collection to complete Construction Prints. Beyond that - the Blueprints Collection awaits our attention. These will be fun, and I'm looking forward to working on them.

Maine Plat House - sweet progress

2012-08-22T15:12:00.000-04:00

The Maine Plat House has come a long way in the past few weeks. We have a new group of pictures to share that have been posted slowly to the Flickr set through August.

Last time we looked the framing was done, the house was wrapped, and the windows and doors had been installed. What next? The cladding of course. And the owner choose a beautiful cladding, in the Maine tradition - cedar shingles. Yikes, such a beautiful look for the Plat House.

I think this is the first Plat House to be shingled. We actually used shingles in the illustrations of the Plat House 3 design, which is the slightly larger 3 bedroom version of the Plat House. The original house was rendered with cedar lap siding, but we used shingles on the Plat House 3 just because we always thought it would look good this way.

Once the cladding is complete the builder will move on to finishing the interior. Not so long now till the whole thing will be done. This build has gone extremely smooth. There are more photos in a browser after the break:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Much thanks to our customers/home owners for sharing their projects. The 2 bedroom Plat House, and 3 bedroom Plat House can be found in our catalog.