Project Description
2008 RADA
Custom / 3,500 Square Feet Or Less / Merit
This retirement house in rural Arkansas is unlike anything you’ll see in Florida or Arizona, but for the homeowners it makes perfect sense. “They had a strong appreciation for what we do,” says principal in charge Dan Rockhill, “and felt they could live with something different.”
Faced with a limited budget, Rockhill and project architect David Sain used off-site steel prefabrication as much as possible and filled in with site work. The clients, who are avid bird watchers, wanted to live in the trees, so the house rests on thin steel pilings and features large glass panels to bring the outside in. The glass faces east, but because it’s placed high in the trees, solar heat gain is not an issue, Rockhill says.
To meet budget, the design keeps the material palette straightforward. A woodburning stove provides warmth when necessary, and ceiling fans temper summer heat. Siding from locally grown oak is installed as a rainscreen, and corrugated metal roofs protect the outside. Said one judge appreciatively, “The structure is refined in an un-self-conscious way.”