Recently, the New York Times reported on a Hong Kong architect who defied the convention that a small apartment has to feel like a prison cell. Working with just 330 square feet, he created a series of movable walls and foldaway features that create the equivalent of 24 movable rooms. The project, which he calls Domestic Transformer, received worldwide press, and no doubt caused many architects to look twice at their boring, static old floorplans. Size, it turns out, is not the final word on livability. Flexibility and novelty may make up for cramped quarters—at least in situations where space is limited.
But will U.S. buyers ever trade living large for living smart? For the past 20 years, the answer has been no. Instead, they seem to want more: more square footage, more storage space, more garage bays. But the wastefulness doesn’t stop there. Once they settle, discontent grows. They begin to hate the tile in the bath, or the layout of the kitchen. How do we know? Because most major renovations take place within a year or two of a home’s sale.
Flash forward to 2010: prolonged economic recession ... a new level of environmental awareness. These trends, amplified by water shortages, oil volatility, and melting glaciers point to a future where homes (and apartments/condos) will be built smaller, more flexible, and longer lasting—or not built at all.
“What we’re seeing is that people want downsizing now,” notes Rick Reynolds, marketing steward for Bensonwood Homes, a Walpole, Mass., timber frame builder. “That’s a new sensitivity. In response to it, we design houses that live large but are actually smaller.”
The Back Story
The idea of homes with movable, reusable, and replaceable parts has been tinkered with since at least the 1960s. Most progress on the technological front, however, has taken place in the commercial sector.
For schools and conference centers, movable components have long been a logical fit. In recent years, they’ve proven that modular and changeable components don’t have to mean an ugly box with no windows.
Tony Sarich, vice president at AMS, a portable classroom builder in Manteca, Calif., says his company designed its new Gen7 classrooms by focusing first on what a space is used for, not how energy efficient it is.
The Gen7 portable classroom above is designed to accommodate future changes.
“The way portable classrooms were always built was based primarily on energy efficiency, so they had very few windows. But even with adults, if you put them in a room with no natural lighting they want to get out. They can’t learn in there.”
By adding skylighting and aluminum-framed low-E windows with a thermal break built in, and designing the structure around four structural columns, the interior is disentangled from the frame.
“You can cut anywhere in here, move any wall, and not affect the structural integrity,” he says. “You can put them together—up to 18 in a row—and they’re all seismically up to code. We’re using carpet tiles that last much longer than carpet, and can be pulled out and replaced. Each structure exceeds the sustainability demands of California’s Title 24 by up to 30%.”
That kind of design forethought, however, rarely happens on the residential side. As David Engel, a HUD official told reporters at the Ottawa Citizen back in 2006, “In every other industry, improvements in productivity and technology have led to better products and better services. Housing should be subject to the same forces. But because of various structural and business barriers, that hasn’t been happening.”
The Change-Enabled Home
A few mavericks on the residential side, however, hope to crash through those barriers.
They include builders Tedd Benson, president of Bensonwood Homes and Fernando Pagés Ruiz. Benson, a timber frame builder, has developed his own flexible building system called Open Built. More on that later.
By sharing their ideas with the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (
PATH), Benson and Ruiz have explored the possibilities of “Organized and Accessible Systems,” putting to work (mostly commercial) technologies in homes that make them easier to reconfigure and sustain in the future.
This futuristic design concept, like the homes it proposes, is flexible and open. It not only introduces innovative products, but it also design ideas from other initiatives, such as aging in place. Why not leave room for an elevator or basement room in case you want to turn it into a bedroom later?
Disentangling Buyers
Reynolds says buyers face pressure to build large, even if they don’t need to. There are pressures from banks, which only know one kind of house, and they almost dictate the square footage minimum when they loan you money.
“Then,” he adds, “when you take out a 30-year mortgage, you’re really paying for everything inside the house—the appliances, the furniture—not just the shell. By the time you pay that off, you won’t even have most of that stuff any more.”
Reynolds uses that example to educate clients about his company’s “Open Built” program. “What you have currently are homes with overlapping, entangled systems that all have different lifespans,” he explains. “So when you want to change something like a wall, it’s a costly process that creates a lot of waste. For example, if you want to move a wall, you call in the carpenter to do the demolition, then the electrician to rewire it, then the carpenter to rebuild it, then the mud guy to fix the drywall.”
With Open Built homes, (a term Bensonwood lays claim to), you enter the world of “disentangled construction.” This idea refers to designing and building a home so that features most likely to be changed or replaced are the easiest to access.
The payback: low-cost remodeling, less demolition debris to clog landfills, and a lighter environmental footprint.
“Whether they plan on staying in the home or not, if it’s built this way it has embodied quality that lasts. Realtors recognize it, and let buyers know this house can change.”
Pressure to Change
Other forces are also at work that could make flexible home design not only more palatable to buyers, but also a natural extension of green building. At present, certification programs such as LEED for Homes don’t include disentangled systems in their programs. Reynolds thinks they should. He also thinks such changes in building codes may need to be legislated.
He may not have to wait long. Some states have already enacted mandatory green building standards or strict “end-of-life” requirements for product manufacturers. You can be sure these new rules will nudge companies toward more sustainable, reusable designs.
For example, Maine just passed a product stewardship law (HP 1159). It requires that all manufacturers of consumer goods take responsibility for recycling or reuse of those products. Think like a manufacturer for a minute. You redesign your product to give it end-of-life value. You put higher quality plastics in your sidings and windows. You build power tools that last longer, with easily replaceable components. The business of selling those parts becomes a new profit center.
“The last housing meltdown made the problems here so obvious,” notes Rick Reynolds. “Everything became upside down. That’s because it became clear that homes that are being built to last 30 years, not 150 years as they should. Different parts of a building last differently, and it’s time for the industry to build more responsibly. We’re completely open source with what we’re doing. We want everyone to do it."
Flexible Innovations
Products suitable for residential use tested by PATH researchers demonstrate that Organized and Accessible Home Systems are (mostly) ready to roll. Here are some products and systems from their archive:
PREPUNCHED JOISTS
Flexible floor systems are also available made with lightweight steel, such as the Dietrich TradeReady joists shown
www.dietrichmetalframing.com.
FAST FLOW DUCTS
Another option is to specify high-velocity HVAC systems that can use small-diameter ducting. The Unico System (shown) includes 2.5” flexible ducts.
www.unicosystem.com
EASY ACCESS DUCTS
Research has shown either a ductless system or one where ducts are readily accessible is the most flexible design. Use short runs from a centralized HVAC hub. Exposed ducts don’t have to be an eyesore. Sometimes they’re part of the plan, as seen in this upscale loft.
www.azlofts.com
CENTRAL PLUMBING
Along with the use of flexible plumbing pipes such as PEX, the concept of a utility “core” is key to flexible designs. Plumbing, electrical, and gas lines run to a central hub, where they can be easily reconfigured. The Viega Manabloc plumbing manifold system is shown.
www.viega.net
QUICK CONNECT PLUMBING
For quick changeover of plumbing after the fact a company called SeaTech offers compatible quick connect products. They’re made of polypropylene, not PVC www.seatechinc.com. Moen also offers a system called Hydrolock (shown), that allows you to quickly change the supply lines for faucets.
www.moen.com
FLEXIBLE GAS PIPING
Older homes typically routed iron pipe in segments to supply gas to the home, resulting in frequent mismatch with the hookup to various gas appliances (and possible safety issues). For new installations, PATH recommends flexible, corrugated stainless steel tubing. Companies such as Gastite offer many fitting and junction options.
www.gastite.com
EASY CONNECT BASEBOARD POWER
Wiring has always been a major stumbling block when designing modular or movable interior walls. But it doesn’t have to be. With the advent of wireless systems, many of the roadblocks to communication wiring were removed. For standard 110/220 VAC wiring, you can build or purchase pre-fabricated wiring chases. For example, Bensonwood developed its own factory-built baseboard system (shown) as part of their Open Built technology.
www.bensonwood.com
WIRELESS LIGHTING
We’ve written recently about exciting new advances in lighting, such as glowing walls and light absorbing window shades. Some of these technologies should make the task of disentangling lighting from other home systems easier. In the meantime, wireless control systems offer the possibility of simplified wiring. With the Lutron Aurora 3 system shown, all you need is AC power to each location. The wireless dimmers do the rest.
www.lutron.com
PAINTABLE FLAT WIRING
Another relatively new and promising technology is called flat wiring, a ribbon-like wire that can be used to transmit video, audio electrical current for lighting. The DeCord product shown is available in various cable configurations, all just a few mils thick. It’s applied to the surface of walls with a spray adhesive, then hidden with drywall compound and painted over—to disappear.
www.flatwireready.com
FLOOR JOISTS WITH OPTIONS
In older homes, replacing mechanical systems in floors and ceilings can be extremely challenging. Ever try retrofitting a whole-house vacuum? If so, you’ve felt this pain. New technologies can make the lives of future remodelers a lot easier. For example open web floor joists such as the Universal Forest Products floor truss shown.
www.ufpi.com
Title Photo Credit: New York Times