RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
THE DESIGN
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TITLE
THE DESIGN JACK LITTRELL Undergraduate Thesis: Fall 2019 - Spring 2020 College of Architecture & Urban Studies Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To My Family, George, Julie, and Caroline Littrell Thank you for your unconditional love and support.
To My Advisors, Jim Bassett, Ellen Braaten, and Hilary Bryon
Thank you for inspiring me, encouraging me, and sharing your passion for design.
To My Friends
Thank you for filling the last five years with adventures and great memories.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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CONTENTS
CONTENTS Abstract
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Designing The House
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Designing For The User
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Designing The Game
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Conclusion
42 - 43
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ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Architecture exists as a vessel for human activity, designed and built to serve the needs of its users. In The United States, it is rare to find a house that was designed with its occupants’ needs as its primary concern. Most American housing is designed and built to generate revenue for its builder, resulting in an abundance of careless architecture. This thesis rethinks what it is to create good housing, making the needs of the user the utmost concern in its design.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
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DESIGNING THE HOUSE
In the United States, it is rare to find a house designed with its occupants’ needs as its primary concern. The vast majority of singlefamily houses in the United States are built by real estate developers, focused on maximizing profit rather than constructing good houses. This has generated an abundance of careless architecture; housing which does not address its specific site or the unique needs of its occupants.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
DESIGNING THE HOUSE
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DESIGNING THE HOUSE
DEVELOPING THE HOUSE After studying housing in the United States, and writing the New Case Study House Program Announcement, I codified my beliefs about how repeatable single-family houses should be improved. I established three design goals, all focused on better addressing the needs of the user. First, the spaces of the house must cater to specific needs and activities in the life of the user. Second, the house must anticipate how the needs of the user will change over time. Finally, the house must offer opportunities for the user to adapt each space to meet their unique needs. Using these criteria, I began to develop my solution, starting by re-defining the program of the single-family house. This study eliminated the rooms of the house that were under-
utilized by occupants, leaving additional resources to further refine the highly utilized spaces. The original program contained one primary and two secondary bedrooms, two and one-half baths, a living space, a kitchen, a dining room and a two-car garage. Using this program, I attempted to design a “one size fits all” house which could be mirrored or rotated to accommodate different sites. While trying to balance the factors of solar orientation, street orientation, and topography, I realized that a “one size fits all” solution could never comprehensively respond to these complex factors. This led me to develop a systematic architecture, comprised of several individual parts, configured in response to the conditions present on individual sites.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
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1260 Nellies Cave Road, 4 Acres, $200,000
3645 Deer Run Road, 5 Acres, $80,000
62 West Ridge Drive, 2.3 Acres, $48,000
1941 Plank Drive, 0.71 Acres, $150,000
1232 Brockton Street, 0.65 Acres, $135,000
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DESIGNING THE HOUSE
4505 Natures Waye Road, 5 Acres, $65,000
Location Plan for 1201 Brockton Street 1/256� = 1’
CHOOSING A SITE view, both features not found on a site typically used for tract-housing. I began searching for a banal site, representative of what is typically available in communities across the United States. I quickly found an infill site down the street from one of the original six sites, containing no remarkable features and exemplifying a typical single-family residential site.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
To test the ideas that I had been developing, I began searching for an available residential site in Blacksburg, Virginia. My initial search yielded six potential sites, all of varying density, ranging from a sparsely populated rural road to a dense suburban development. As I reviewed these lots, I realized that what had drawn me to each of the sites was a unique feature or captivating
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DESIGNING THE HOUSE
NEW CASE STUDY HOUSE #01 After codifying my beliefs about single family housing, developing a program, developing an architectural concept, and choosing a typical residential site, I developed my housing solution. New Case Study House #01 was designed for the available lot at 1201 Brockton Street in Blacksburg, Virginia. The house is conceived as four spaces, each developed to provide good living conditions for a specific use, linked together by a central circulation and service space.
These spaces are developed with accessibility and flexibility in mind, promoting aging-in-place and encouraging occupants to modify their existing house, rather than buying or building another house to accommodate their changing needs. The individual spaces are then organized on the site to create a house which responds to its orientation to the sun, orientation to the street, and to the topography of the site.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
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Plan Oblique 3/64” = 1’
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DESIGNING THE HOUSE
South Elevation 1/16” = 1’
West Elevation 1/16” = 1’
THE ELEVATIONS The geometric forms of each space were designed to optimize the user experience within each space. This allows each space to communicate its function with the outside world, expressing its
unique use. The entire house is clad in an insulated, clapboard, rain-screen system, which unifies the four individual spaces in the overall elevations.
East Elevation 1/16” = 1’
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
North Elevation 1/16” = 1’
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DESIGNING THE HOUSE
Upper Floor Plan 1/16” = 1’
Lower Floor Plan 1/16” = 1’
Longitudinal Section 1/16” = 1’
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER framing typical of single-family residential construction. The wall construction is insulated between the studs as well as between the moisture barrier and the rainscreen system. The rainscreen system allows the house to be clad in a wide variety of materials, allowing each house to be clad in materials typical for its locale.
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The individual spaces within the house were developed to produce good living spaces which specifically address the activities occurring within them. The spaces are joined by a central hallway and staircase, connecting both levels of the house as well as the individual spaces on each level. The house is built with slab-on-grade construction and dimensional lumber
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
Latitudinal Section 1/16” = 1’
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DESIGNING FOR THE USER
Architecture exists as a vessel for human activity; built in service for those who use it. This relationship between user and space must be cultivated to create exceptional architecture. This thesis explores how a single-family house can better respond to the ever-changing needs of its users. This design and organization focused on the needs of the user and drove the project towards its final solution.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
DESIGNING FOR THE USER
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DESIGNING FOR THE USER
Sectional Perspective of Kitchen, Dining Table, Fireplace, and Living Room
THE LIVING SPACE or work within the space while supervising their children. The room is organized around the monolithic concrete hearth at the center of the space. This hearth divides the living space from the kitchen and dining spaces, acting as a column to support the vaulted ceiling which rises from each wall to meet the hearth.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
The living space contains the three public spaces of the house, offering opportunities for the occupants to gather and entertain guests. This space provides an accessible and functional kitchen, a dining space, and a living room. The three spaces are all visually connected, allowing parents the ability to cook
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DESIGNING FOR THE USER
THE PRIMARY BEDROOM The primary bedroom is comprised of a sleeping room, a sitting room, two walk-in closets, and a full bathroom. The bathroom and the walk-in closets are separated from the sleeping room and the sitting room, allowing the occupants to bathe and dress without waking the other resident. The bathroom features a walk-in tiled shower, a soaking tub, a private toilet, and two sinks. The sleeping room has a lowered ceiling and does
not contain windows, thus promoting privacy and a sense of security. It is adjacent to the sitting room, which features an elevated ceiling and clerestory windows, which capture and reflect diffused natural light to both the sitting room and the room for the bed. This room provides space for the occupants to read or enjoy a drink as they begin or end their day.
Sectional Perspective of Sleeping Room and Sitting Room RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE 27
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DESIGNING FOR THE USER
THE SECONDARY BEDROOMS The secondary bedrooms provide private space for the occupants of the house. The space contains two equal bedrooms, each capable of housing one queen bed or two twin beds. Each room contains its own closet, dressing space, and a private sink. The two bedrooms are connected by a shared toilet and combined shower/ bathtub located adjacent to both sinks. This bathroom
configuration provides each room with its own sink, allowing occupants to prepare for and end their day without using the shared space. The bedroom space features vaulted ceilings in each room as well as ample natural light captured by the corner windows and a clerestory window in the dressing area.
Sectional Perspective of Secondary Bedrooms
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DESIGNING THE GAME
Sectional Perspective of Maker Space Art Studio
THE MAKER SPACE creative, scholarly, and professional pursuits. The room begins as an open space, containing only a sink, four walls, windows, and a concrete floor. It acts as a blank canvas for the occupants to continuously modify, fulfilling their changing needs.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
The maker space is a multi-purpose room, which allows occupants to customize the space to address their specific needs. The room provides ample natural light through its windows and clerestory, and provides direct outdoor access. This offers the occupants a dedicated space to engage in their preferred
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DESIGNING THE GAME
This thesis rethinks what it is to create good housing by incorporating principles of gaming, rules, and game design. Studying these elements has offered me a better understanding of how to develop sets of rules which empower a user to make meaningful decisions. By giving users the opportunity to make meaningful decisions about the spaces they occupy, the user can manipulate the space to better meet their needs.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
DESIGNING THE GAME
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DESIGNING THE GAME 34
THE HOUSE AT 1201 BROCKTON STREET The first iteration of New Case Study House #01 was designed specifically for the available plot of land at 1201 Brockton Street in Blacksburg, Virginia. This site lies on the north side of the street, sloping up from street level. The organization of the spaces stems from the existing site conditions. To minimize grading on the sloping topography of the site, a splitlevel configuration was developed. To encourage the residents of the house to age-in-place, the
primary bedroom and living space were located on the entry level of the house, pushing the secondary bedroom and maker space to the upper level. The bedrooms were placed on the more private side of the site, allowing the living space and maker space to be located along the driveway for easy loading and delivery. The living space was oriented to maximize its exposure to southern light. The four volumes are connected by the central circulation and service spaces.
Secondary Bedrooms
Maker Space Primary Bedroom Circulation and Service Space RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE 35
Living Space
Living Space
Circulation and Service Space
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DESIGNING THE GAME
Primary Bedroom
Secondary Bedrooms
Maker Space
accessibility throughout the entire house. This configuration maximizes exposure to southern light in both the primary and secondary bedrooms and places the living space and maker space adjacent to the driveway, allowing for easy loading and delivery.
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To test the adaptability of New Case Study House #01, a second iteration was designed for a flat fictional site. This site condition allows the house to exist on a single level, eliminating the need for stairs in the circulation space, and offering single level
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
THE HOUSE IN ANOTHER CONFIGURATION
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DESIGNING THE GAME
Two Bedroom Configuration
ADAPTING TO CHANGE OVER TIME The secondary bedroom space in the original iteration of New Case Study House #01 was developed for families with multiple children. It is divided into two separate bedrooms, containing their own dressing area and sink, and sharing a shower/ bath tub and toilet. To better accommodate other secondary occupants such as tenants, guests, and
aging relatives, the wall which divides the space is intentionally non-structural, and can be removed to create one large secondary bedroom. This flexibility allows the house to better accommodate the ever-changing needs of the occupants, and maintains relevancy in the lives of the occupants.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
One Bedroom Configuration
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DESIGNING THE GAME
Maker Space used for painting and home office
FULFILLING THE NEEDS OF INDIVIDUAL OCCUPANTS The maker space offers the occupants a customizable place to fulfil whatever needs the remainder of the house does not satisfy. The other rooms of the house address the specific concerns of basic human survival,
but do not specifically address the occupants other pursuits. The maker space can be customized to accommodate the creative, scholarly and professional pursuits most important to the occupants.
RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE
Maker Space used as a pottery studio
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CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION Pursuing this thesis has allowed me to spend ten months searching for answers to the architectural questions I have been developing since I began to study architecture five years ago. It has allowed me the opportunity to better understand the relationship between the user and the building. This thesis challenges the principles guiding the design of American single-family housing, offering new guiding principles and a new housing solution which make the needs of the user paramount. The spaces of the house cater to specific needs and activities in the life of the user; the house anticipates how the needs of the user will change over time; and the house offers opportunities for the user to adapt each space to meet their own unique needs. This thesis has offered me the opportunity to develop new ideas about improving American housing, contributing those ideas to the conversation about a contemporary architectural issue. RETHINKING THE AMERICAN HOUSE 43