Pyrite House

Inspiration for the design came from a piece of pyrite sitting around our office. Several glass cube-like volumes cluster around a central solid mass - somewhat akin to cubic pyrite crystals growing out of a supporting matrix. The home makes the most of its’ very small (only 64’x86’) urban infill lot which was the primary generator of the home’s layout. The main challenge of this project was designing something on the very tight lot that still felt gracious and in-scale with the surrounding historic, yet modest, bungalows prevalent in this older neighborhood.

The clients expressed a preference for contemporary design that did not fit the standard, expected mold. To this end, more organic material choices such as stone, reclaimed wood siding, and hand-troweled stucco were mixed in with more industrial esthetic features such as exposed copper plumbing with unfinished brass fixtures and mill finish steel elements including an operable steel panel on a pulley system that can be raised and lowered to reveal or hide the living room television. A natural finish, custom, floating copper-clad vent hood rounds out the somewhat retro-industrial esthetic.

Some other notable features of the home include:

- A planted “green” wall on the front façade of the home.
- Green Roofs
- Foam insulation throughout the home.
- Passive solar design through accurate computer modeling
- Thermally-broken window frames
- Artisan hand-troweled stucco
- Reclaimed wood siding
- Energy-efficient ethanol-burning, ventless fireplaces