Douglas Cutler Architects and The Home That Stood Up to Sandy

Nov. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Weathering the Superstorm: The Beach House that Stood Up to Sandy.
If you are thinking about building, or rebuilding, a home near any body of water, this article may of tremendous importance to you.


As Hurricane Sandy approached, Douglas Cutler, an architect in Wilton, CT, began to worry about one particular luxury home he had designed. Built in 2006 all alone on a tiny island off the coast of Branford, CT in the Long Island Sound, this home was smack in the path of a superstorm.

Sitting on slightly more than an acre, the home was built only 10 feet above sea level — but the prediction for this record breaking storm included storm surge in Long Island Sound of 11 feet or more. Not good.

Intellectually, Douglas Cutler knew that if any home could make it through, this would be the one, but  he was still nervous. When the storm passed, and the devastation started drifting into the media, his first call was to this island home owner to find out how his modular construction held up.

This home, in spite of it’s perilous location, made it through the storm 100% intact.

The owner reported that his island indeed had the predicted 11 foot surge. The tiny piece of land was completely enveloped with 4 feet of water during the height of the storm, a little bit higher than it was during Hurricane Irene, but had a 2 foot wave action on top of the surge. Therefore, the water came within 2 feet of the underside of structure. (see the photograph above for visual detail)
Storm Resistant Architecture

The design of this home is “storm resistant” based on the latest engineering requirement put forth by FEMA. The FEMA regulations also required the design must resist 120 mph wind speeds and wave force on the foundation of 850 pounds per square foot laterally.

The design employed modular building methods comprised of 8 modules. Additionally Shear Walls were engineered in to the design to resist lateral loads cause by high winds. Special steel anchoring systems were carefully planned to resist wind forces as well.

The foundation was designed with reinforced concrete and shaped with a concrete “mat “foundation. Mat foundations are designed to help mitigate “underscoring” from the movement of the ocean. The connections of the reinforced concrete piers to the mat foundation were designed to resist significant lateral forces of a storm. Special Thanks should be given to Ocean and Coastal Consultants Inc. and ED Pons LLC for their roll played in the engineering.

Storm resistant windows are always specified into the design as well to give maximum protection to the building envelope. Douglas Cutler plans and coordinates all design issues into a finished design that is aesthetically attractive. While no home can be made 100% storm proof, the modular home technologies that Douglas Cutler utilizes in his architectural plans, have allowed people to confidently build homes on beaches, rivers, or lake fronts.

Douglas Cutler Architects has become nationally recognized for elevating modular construction to an art, producing results which offer superior design and quality with considerable cost advantages over traditional construction methods.

A few More Reasons to Build Modular
The quality of materials and craftsmanship can be carefully controlled in a factory environment. In the field, construction management is simplified and delays are avoided by eliminating the coordination of the trades in the construction industry. Single family homes as well as multi-family residences, hotels and motels can benefit from cost saving, labor-saving, and time-saving modular construction.

Visit these websites for more information:

http://www.modulararchitecture.com

http://www.douglascutlerarchitects.com

Press Release by: http://coldfireinc.com