Location: California, US
Year: 2014
AWARDS & RECOGNITION:
California Home + Design: Best Residential Architecture under 3000sf, 2012
AIA Monterey Bay: Citation Award for Excellence in Design, 2011
Interior Design Magazine Honoree for Best of Year: Custom Home Design – Suburban, 2011
Builder Magazine’s Grand Award for Custom Home less than 3,500 sf, 2011
Featured on Monterey Design Conference Home Tour, October 2011
EcoHome Magazine’s Grand Award for Design, 2011
AIA San Francisco Design Citation: Energy & Sustainability, 2011
Architects: Feldman Architecture
Contractor: Groza Construction
Landscape Design: Joni Janecki + Associates
Lighting Design: Revolver Design
Engineer: Yu Strandberg Engineering
Rammed Earth Consultant: Rammed Earth Works
Energy Consultant: Monterey Energy Group
Water Consultant: Earthcraft Landscape Design
LEED for Homes Representative: Michael Heacock + Associates
Photography: Joe Fletcher
The design for the Caterpillar House, sited on the softly rolling hills of the Santa Lucia Preserve, sought to accentuate a connection to the land. Having lived in a Cliff May home, the client came to the project with a love of modern ranch houses and looking for an environmentally-conscious response to a beautiful site. The Caterpillar House implements sustainable elements while exploring a contemporary version of the ranch ideals: massing that is low and horizontal, an open plan with a strong connection between indoor and outdoor spaces, and main living areas that center informally on the kitchen.
Connecting the home literally and figuratively to the site, excavated earth was repurposed for the construction of the walls. These rammed earth walls gently curve in response to the site’s contours and also act as a thermal mass, regulating temperatures from day to night. Three tanks close to the home proudly store rainwater and provide all of the property’s irrigation needs. Large south-facing glass doors open the main living area to a large covered contemporary porch and to an outdoor patio with sunshades that expand and contract to allow for a flexible entertaining area that responds to the client’s needs. The glazing, natural ventilation and operable shading also act as a passive heating and cooling system. Integrated photovoltaic panels enable the house to produce all of its own energy requirements without compromising the graceful curve of the low roof against the hill.
The Caterpillar House was the first LEED Platinum Custom Home on California’s Central Coast.
Feldman Architecture
All images courtesy of Feldman Architecture
Feldman Architecture
Feldman Architecture is an award-winning residential and commercial design practice recognized for creating warm, light-filled spaces that are site-sensitive and carefully detailed. Highly collaborative in nature, the firm approaches design as a dialogue between client, design team and site. Each project is an opportunity to create an innovative solution that is relevant to the project environs and tailored to a clients’ specific needs.
The studio’s culture is also informal and non-hierarchical; members of the small firm work with clients in an engaging, shared process to find smart and sustainable solutions. Closely guiding projects from design through construction, designers and project managers are deeply involved in research and probing the parameters of a project. Strong alliances with consultants, builders and artisans contribute to carefully informed design decisions and result in fully realized projects with conceptual clarity and precise detailing.
Sustainability Awards and Honors
CONTACT
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
1648 Pacific Avenue, Suite B
San Francisco, CA 94109
VISIT
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