ALLISON PARK, Pa. -
Sept. 29, 2015 -
PRLog -- The Pound Ridge house is built among boulders on a wooded site that includes wetlands and is situated one hundred feet above the road. Philadelphia architecture firm KieranTimberlake’
s first challenge was determining the best location for the home on the 33 acre site which was not a straightforward decision given the terrain.
The home is built on a plateau that includes large boulders and is split in two halves that are connected by a bridge that crosses a ravine. The site is also the highest point of the property, offering views within the setting that change with time of day and season. The owners wanted to live in the woods and feel the woods while in their home.
The result is spectacular with the envelope composed of InvariBrush™
Stainless Steel, InvariGlass™
Stainless Steel, both products of Contrarian Metal Resources, Allison Park, PA, as well as tin-zinc coated copper and glass. The pairing of the InvariBrush™
and InvariGlass™
reflects the environment in very different ways, honoring its presence among the woods as its edges almost disappear among the trees, boulders and terrain.
Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) were used for enclosures with narrow construction and detail tolerances which results in very tight construction and a well insulated home. Even the glazing minimizes thermal transfer in terms of heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. In addition, apertures for cross ventilation greatly reduce the need for air conditioning. The result is an 85 – 90% opaque envelope.
Clearly KieranTimberlake’
s inspired design has been executed with aplomb and General Contractor, Prutting & Company, New Canaan, CT is to be recognized as well. The installation went very well and in fact Robert Villeneuve, Regional Sales Manager for Railtech Composites Inc. (manufacturer of Lamcel) reported that the architect and general contractor were exceptional. The collaboration and very high quality of work of all parties involved shows in this exceptional home which was featured in the April issue of Architectural Record and has been named A Record House for 2015.
The owner wanted their home to interact with nature and chose the site with its boulders and forest in mind. The challenge was to engage with the environment while being ecologically responsible and choreographing the environment within the home on the site was consideration one. Lessening the energy and costs required for heating and cooling was part of that goal as well.
“When we researched products and did a number of studies we decided on metal and were drawn to InvariGlass™
because of its durability, abstract quality and beauty. To ensure that we selected the best materials we created full size mock ups on site and let them sit there for a year. We tested other materials as well; however they did not perform to expectation in 3 months, whereas the InvariGlass™
still looked beautiful after a year. InvariGlass™
has an almost religious quality to it, its specularity and clarity led us to Contrarian Metal Resources. We are also very happy with the contrasting stainless steel InvariBrush™
that Contrarian provided as well. It too performed very well in the test. InvariBrush™
was chosen for its abstraction qualities and it is unparalleled,”
explained KieranTimberlake Project Architect, Jon McCandlish. “Our partners were chosen wisely and carefully and the results speak for themselves,”
he added.
Press release written by:
Jan Boston
414-331-0914
nyjanboston@
gmail.com
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