Ways to Design with Polycarbonate

Just off the kitchen is the lanai, which serves as the family’s main gathering spot. The polycarbonate roof lets light through but keeps the rain at bay.

The art studio makes a clear delineation of “his” space and “her” space. His, wrapped in translucent polycarbonate, draws in the light and meshes inside and out. Hers, clad in cedar, is a more private box, as the programming flip-flopped several times during the design and construction process from pottery studio to personal gym and finally back to a ceramics room.

Now light emanates through the house’s rear window, and through polycarbonate panels concealing the upstairs bedroom.

Because of its semi-opaque envelope, the building takes on a life of its own: It glows in the evenings and its framing casts shadows that dance throughout the interior during the day.

At the lower left, polycarbonate panels glow under the cantilevered, vertically-seamed sheet-metal facade. Photo credit: Dale Christopher Lang PhD AIAP