1220 EAST 12TH STREET

A MODERN SUSTAINABLE RESIDENCE

STUDIO 804

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL

LAWRENCE, KANSAS

AWARDS

Winner of the 2018 Residential Architect Design Awards for Custom Home Less Than 3,000 Square Feet by Architect Magazine, The Journal of the American Institute of Architects

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS

• Architect Magazine, The Journal of the American • Institute of Architects

• ArchDaily
• Dwell
• Archello

CERTIFICATIONS

•LEED Platinum

1220 East 12th Street is a modern and sustainable fully integrated smart home. The certified LEED Platinum home features a 1,500 Square foot ADA handicap accessible main house with three bedrooms and two baths as well as an independent structure housing a 500 square foot studio apartment. The home is designed using recycled, donated, re-purposed, and environmentally conscious and sustainable materials and fixtures.

Sixteen classmates and I set out under the instruction of our professor to completely design and build this house ourselves. Over the course of nine months we purchased the lot, made up all the drawings, submitted to the city, and did all of the construction and fabrication work ourselves.

1220 E 12th Southeast Exterior Night 2.1.jpg

1220 E 12th Southeast Exterior Night 1.0.jpg

The house rises out of the ground to “float” over the flood plain of the Kansas River. Unobstructed glazing to the east fills the house with natural light ensuring every room in the house has views to the second largest Burr Oak tree in the state of Kansas, estimated to be nearly 400 years old, and to the natural Kansas landscape.

The south elevation is finished with fritted glass that blocks 80 percent of the sun allowing light to enter while providing extra privacy from the street. The other elevations are finished with glass shingles secured to the outside of R25 insulated metal panels to create an extra blanket of insulated air and create a continuous glass box around all elevations.

The super insulated building envelope emphasizes both sustainability and thermal comfort. Highly efficient ventilation systems and natural daylight reduce the use of mechanical conditioning. The house integrates passive strategies for ventilation and sun shading with photovoltaics and state of the art mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to target net zero energy use. All the window shades, lights, appliances, and the heating and air conditioning systems communicate with each other and the user to enhance efficient, responsible and convenient living. They can all be controlled from one unit or a phone application.

A central factor in the home’s sustainability is its management and conservation of water. Low flow fixtures and appliances are utilized to greatly reduce the amount of water consumption. They are also minimally distanced from the water heaters to reduce heat loss. All storm water is managed on site. Rain water collects on the rooftops to run through a system of underground pipes that flow into native Kansas plantings reducing maintenance and watering needs. A pervious driveway and retaining wall system made from welded steel grating and re-cycled crushed concrete allow water to be absorbed into the subsurface on site without blocking water flow across the site which is located in a flood plain of the Kansas River. This greatly reduces the amount of rainwater flowing into the city storm system.