Sustainable architecture, Stone Solar Studio by Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape and NODE

Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape and NODE, design Stone Solar Studio, a prefabricated one-room studio near a main house so that the client has an additional rental income. In addition, all the energy needed for the study and the main house is achieved thanks to the solar panels located on the roof of the new studio.

Stone Solar Studio by Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape and NODE. Photograph by Andrew Pogue.

The project of Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape and NODE is characterized by its great simplicity: large windows, wooden corridors, a small entrance and its connection with people and nature. The study shows how modern construction techniques can achieve a high level of environmental sustainability.

Description of project by Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape

When Seattle homeowner Karen Stone reached out to architect Matt Wittman of the local firm Wittman Estes to design and build an affordable, one-bedroom studio in her backyard, the project produced more than just an eco-friendly prefab on a budget.

Stone Solar Studio is a West Seattle NODE prefab one-bedroom studio situated near a main house on a large lot. The client wanted a second unit to create an additional rental income that would be self-sustaining and affordable, generating economic and environmental productivity.

A south-facing solar roof provides all of the energy for the studio and the main house. The large windows, wood walkways, and small footprint create a building defined by simplicity as much as its connection to people and nature. It is the city’s first DADU registered with the International Futures Institute’s zero energy certification. The studio’s innovative construction method allowed the studio to be built at a lower cost than traditional building techniques. The studio demonstrates how modern building techniques can create human spaces, filled with light and warm materials, and achieve a high level of environmental sustainability and was designed for NODE and the client by Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape.

Not only did Stone’s unit—dubbed Solar Studio after its solar rooftop panels—become the first in a series of prefab designs crafted for NODE, a prefab tech company that’s making well designed, carbon negative, non-toxic homes easily accessible, but the backyard studio also became the city’s first DADU (Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit) with the International Living Futures Institute’s (IFLI) zero energy certification. The ILFI has developed and promotes the highest standards in the built environment for sustainability and health.

"NODE is developing an assembly system for homes, increasing quality while reducing time and cost, delivering good design and deep sustainability with a guaranteed price and schedule – something you just can’t do with conventional construction” says Don Bunnell, NODE’s co-founder.

In addition to producing solar energy, the Solar Studio also generates side income for Stone, who lists the one-bedroom unit on AirBnB.

"As a system of components, the entire home can be shipped almost anywhere and assembled in days," Wittman says.

"The simplicity of the home embodies a "poetic pragmatism", believing that good design can be accessible to anyone," says Matt Wittman.

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Ground floor plan and section. Stone Solar Studio by Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape and NODE.

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More information

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Architects

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Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape.

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Design team

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Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape with NODE.

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Landscape Design

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Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape.

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Builder

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NODE, Don Bunnell.

Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape

Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape. Wittman Estes is a Seattle based collaboration between architect Matt Wittman and landscape designer Jody Estes, founded on the idea that buildings and landscapes could be combined into one interconnected whole. The office is known for innovative designs for custom residential spaces, energy positive prefab housing, multifamily housing, and their ability to design for sensitive ecological sites.

We believe architecture should be based on connecting to nature and experience, and not be about making new shapes and precious objects. Living spaces should be innovative and experimental, but also comfortable and cozy. Housing should be modern and refined, but also have depth and richness of material and detail. Architecture and landscapes should be beautiful and timeless contributions to the cities and geographies they are part of.

Wittman Estes was founded in 2012 in West Seattle. Since then a team of talented designers have worked together with forward thinking clients on unique sites to deliver the best possible architecture and landscape design working from our studio in Georgetown's historic Rainier warehouse space.

Matt Wittman, AIA LEED AP. Matt is the founding principal of Wittman Estes, and received his Master of Architecture in 2003 from UC Berkeley, where he was awarded the Gerson Prize for Design Excellence, and taught architecture and design studios.

His work has won numerous awards at the Honor Awards for Washington Architecture, has been exhibited in San Francisco at the LAB Gallery and the AIA SF, at the Seattle Architecture Foundation, and published in London based MADE magazine. Prior to founding Wittman Estes, Matt was an architect in the Seattle office of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. Working in California and Latin America, Matt was inspired by the clean simplicity of courtyard houses, where abundant windows and open floor plans expand interior spaces and bring the outdoors in. His work continues the modernist tradition of integration with nature and doing more with less.

Matt is currently a visiting critic at the University of Oregon and University of Washington Departments of Architecture. He is a licensed architect in the State of Washington, and a LEED accredited professional.

Jody Estes. Born and raised on Vashon Island, Jody received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Washington in 1999, and her Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley in 2003. She studied in the doctoral program for Architectural History, with a focus on mid-century modern housing and landscapes.

Prior to founding Wittman Estes, Jody was a landscape designer at Scot Eckley, Inc., where she designed numerous award winning residential and multi-family landscapes in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Her work is focused on creating outdoor spaces that are experientially rich and have a feeling of intimacy within a simple modern layout. Jody is a keen observer of social and natural phenomena, an avid gardener, and an expert in the native flora and fauna of the Puget Sound ecosystem.