Comments on: The $99k House Competition Winner Opens Up

By: markd

markd — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:16:56 +0000

“5. Untreated wood outside is decorative, not structural, so yes it will age like a privacy fence but should hold up and can be replaced if needed.”

Yea, so that roof soffit is decorative?

Sounds like architect talk.

By: mstark

mstark — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:24:21 +0000

Okay, so I actually toured this house, and to address some of the comments above:
1. Its square b/c of the cooling design, a central shaft circulates hot air up and out and draws cool air in to complement the mechanical cooling system, works somewhat opposite in winter.
2. Windows are double paned, low-e glass and I think thermally broken vinyl manufactured locally and provided by RAM industries.
3. Exterior is stucco and there was something on the project description board about the framing being improved from a durability standpoint (can’t remember details)
4. Innovative features included a rainwater supplemented plumbing system for flushing toilets, which actually isn’t yet approved by COH code, but should be soon.
5. Untreated wood outside is decorative, not structural, so yes it will age like a privacy fence but should hold up and can be replaced if needed.
But that brings me to my main beef with this house - the interior was designed to be “Flexible”. Walls can be demounted and rearranged to make more/fewer bigger/smaller rooms. The partitions were some type of wheatboard, which is durable enough under normal conditions, but I can just see the 2nd owner of this home, not knowing what the deal is, completely wrecking this place in 2 days max. Wall panels could get misplaced or sold. Pretty good idea, but the implementation would require more owner education than I think is possible with the current real estate market set up. I think the maintenance of all of the systems would be neglected too, causing them to malfunction in short order. So, step in the right direction? Yes. Answer? No.

By: Carol

Carol — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:59:00 +0000

Would this be the low end of the “Houston vernacular” we were discussing recently? Pier and beam, screened porch, etc.
I like the house, personally.

By: JAH

JAH — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:08:24 +0000

“No modern techniques or materials and cheap aluminum windows that already wouldn’t move.”

Interesting. Double pane fixed windows would be better — far better — than contract grade, alum. windows. I mean, in Houston one can only open a house up to the outside for a few weeks in the fall and spring anyway. Hardly any value in conventional windows.

“I would bet you could bring 2 or 3 old houses up to extremely high efficiency for 99k. Nothing is greener than using what is already here.”

Depends on the size of the structure… good point nonetheless. The exercise of course was to build a new low budget, “high efficiency” home — certainly a laudable effort — it’s just that the end product falls short of aspirations.

By: markd

markd — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:01:28 +0000

This house doesn’t look like it could stand up to the wear and tear of everyday life. And it doesn’t look like it would stand up to the elements, either, with all that untreated lumber.

I’d like to see how it holds up, both inside and out, after about 5 years.

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:10:42 +0000

Aluminum windows?

Talk about not energy efficient and cheap.

By: finness

finness — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:07:56 +0000

I was in the unfinished house on the RDA tour and it was extremely traditional. No modern techniques or materials and cheap aluminum windows that already wouldn’t move. Awful. I would bet you could bring 2 or 3 old houses up to extremely high efficiency for 99k. Nothing is greener than using what is already here.

By: Theresa Quintanilla

Theresa Quintanilla — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:37:30 +0000

Although it’s not pretty, this seems to me an excellent compromise between comfort, convenience and economy. It’s tidy, and I agree that white cabinets will age quickly, but at least the countertop is black!

As for innovation, I would have enjoyed seeing something more adventurous, but by choosing something any conservative home-owner could accept and local builders would conceivably build, the judges may have made a bigger and more immediate impact on improving our local quality of life!

By: Darbymom

Darbymom — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:46:02 +0000

Right on re the actual cost, but still a commendable effort toward a much-need objective, smaller, more affordable homes.

Agree also on the odd color choice, even a paler, sage green would have been nice. Yeah, it is kind of a box–the 2nd story screened balcony is neat, though.

Speaking as a cook, black counters & cabinets–show everything, every drip, every crumb, and they nick up faster. Re-think this next time.

Again, commendable effort, keep trying.

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:40:06 +0000

JAH,

You make a good point. The powers that be (government types) will more often than not chose crap first.

I agree with some other posters that they were plenty of better submissions to this contest.

By: Jessie M

Jessie M — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:24:13 +0000

What’s the address?

By: JAH

JAH — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:22:09 +0000

Woof! Sorry to say, this is a bit of a dog. Essentially a box with “green” features (and paint no less). Scale and proportion are absent and as one poster mentioned, you can bet this enterprise far exceeded 99K. Of the vast amount of entrants displayed in the AIA exhibit last year, the Hybrid/ORA submission was — in my opinion anyway — one of the less engaging submissions. Much more pedestrian than innovative, this edifice probably appealed to the powers that be from a “build-ability” standpoint more so than a potential to influence and promote change in affordable, vernacular architecture. Too bad.