Loblolly House
Earlier this year, design blogs were all in a tizzy over the newly released photos of Philadelphia-based KieranTimberlake’s Loblolly House, a contemporary prefab dwelling designed for a breathtaking site on the Chesapeake Bay.
The praise was wholly justified. Loblolly House, so named for the local pine trees that define the landscape, is a revelation for contemporary building. Putting years of theory into practice, Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake tackled the design, fabrication, and assembly of the Loblolly House as though it were no different than developing an automobile. Namely, they reduced the house to a handful of key elemental components, capable of being fabricated and largely assembled off-site.
A book published by Princeton Architectural Press last month handsomely documents the entire design-build process of the Loblolly House. Aptly subtitled, Elements of a New Architecture, the book guides readers through the individualized elements KieranTimberlake propose as replacement for the sixteen divisions (which organize tens of thousands of building parts) that comprise the Construction Specifications Institute’s catalog. By describing residential architecture in this conscientious, elemental manner, the architects remove both the mystery and the utopian from prefab, and this is a good thing. The book never drifts into the realm of idealism. What KieranTimberlake propose is by no means radical, and it can be achieved quite readily (as the book proves) through a systemic realignment of the building process. I dare say this book should be required reading for all architects, contractors, and developers.
Recent recipients of the 2008 AIA Architecture Firm Award, KieranTimberlake have adapted several aspects of the Loblolly House to a prefab proposal called Cellophane House, currently on view as part of MoMA’s Home Delivery exhibition.
The praise was wholly justified. Loblolly House, so named for the local pine trees that define the landscape, is a revelation for contemporary building. Putting years of theory into practice, Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake tackled the design, fabrication, and assembly of the Loblolly House as though it were no different than developing an automobile. Namely, they reduced the house to a handful of key elemental components, capable of being fabricated and largely assembled off-site.
A book published by Princeton Architectural Press last month handsomely documents the entire design-build process of the Loblolly House. Aptly subtitled, Elements of a New Architecture, the book guides readers through the individualized elements KieranTimberlake propose as replacement for the sixteen divisions (which organize tens of thousands of building parts) that comprise the Construction Specifications Institute’s catalog. By describing residential architecture in this conscientious, elemental manner, the architects remove both the mystery and the utopian from prefab, and this is a good thing. The book never drifts into the realm of idealism. What KieranTimberlake propose is by no means radical, and it can be achieved quite readily (as the book proves) through a systemic realignment of the building process. I dare say this book should be required reading for all architects, contractors, and developers.
Recent recipients of the 2008 AIA Architecture Firm Award, KieranTimberlake have adapted several aspects of the Loblolly House to a prefab proposal called Cellophane House, currently on view as part of MoMA’s Home Delivery exhibition.
Posted by: Brian Fichtner on Jul 22, 08 at 09:39 AM PDT
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