Systematization of the single-family home. Taft House by Skylab Architecture
16/04/2021.
[Portland - Oregon] USA
metalocus, PAULA ARIAS
metalocus, PAULA ARIAS
The American studio Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes has designed the Taft House, a single-family home located in a residential neighborhood in Portland, Oregon.
The Taft residence is a house built with a prefabricated modular system called HOMB, developed by the Skylab Architecture studio in collaboration with MethodHomes. This construction process is an alternative to traditional time-consuming methods while minimizing waste through modular prefabrication.
The Taft residence is a house built with a prefabricated modular system called HOMB, developed by the Skylab Architecture studio in collaboration with MethodHomes. This construction process is an alternative to traditional time-consuming methods while minimizing waste through modular prefabrication.
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photograph by Michael Cogliantry and Jeff Van Bergen
Main level plan. Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes
Upper level plan. Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes
Lower level plan. Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes
Diagram Modules. Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes
Module assembly process. Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photography by Skylab Architecture
Module assembly process. Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photography by Skylab Architecture
Module assembly process. Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photography by Skylab Architecture
Module assembly process. Taft House by Skylab Architecture in collaboration with MethodHomes. Photography by Skylab Architecture
Skylab Architecture designs a two-story-high open-plan home built from 28 structurally independent triangular modules, each measuring 30 square meters. This modular system allows very varied configurations and very fast assembly, managing to install the modules on the foundations, previously built, in a single day.
The interior layout of the house has a combined living room, kitchen, and dining room, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The interiors are bright, with large spaces with natural light. Also, the house incorporates domestic heat recovery systems and solar panels, improving the energy efficiency of the house.
By using the systematization in the construction, the material costs and the execution time of the work are optimal and efficient, obtaining an efficient home in terms of construction, sensitive to comfort, and conscious of the environment.
The interior layout of the house has a combined living room, kitchen, and dining room, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The interiors are bright, with large spaces with natural light. Also, the house incorporates domestic heat recovery systems and solar panels, improving the energy efficiency of the house.
By using the systematization in the construction, the material costs and the execution time of the work are optimal and efficient, obtaining an efficient home in terms of construction, sensitive to comfort, and conscious of the environment.
Description of project by Skylab Architecture
The Taft is a 3,930-square-foot, two-story, open plan house designed and built using HOMB, a prefabricated modular system developed by Skylab in collaboration with MethodHomes. The system provides an alternative to the typical time-consuming process of conventional site construction while also minimizing waste through precision prefabrication.
The house is built using 28 prefabricated modules. Each of the triangular-shaped, structurally independent modules is 100-square-feet in size and features pre-installed finishes and integrated building systems. Capable of a wide range of assembly configurations, when fit together, the modules create a structurally efficient system. For construction, the building components for the house were divided and shipped to the site via a convoy of six trucks, each carrying 600 square foot of prefabricated modular volumes per truck. With the foundation completed prior to delivery, on-site installation was accomplished within a single day.
Situated on a steeply sloping urban infill site, the property is a modest 20-feet-wide. Outside, the house is wrapped with a blackened cedar rainscreen that rests over two inches of rigid insulation plus blown-in insulation within the walls. Inside, the open plan features a combined living, kitchen, and dining area, with four bedrooms and three-and-one-half bathrooms. The interiors are bright, with ample daylit spaces highlighting the exposed timber ceiling and hardwood floors. The bathrooms are lined with a custom hexagon tile and pattern that was set in the shop prior to delivery. Home systems include radiant in-floor heating, a heat recovery system, and a 6-kilowatt rooftop solar array installed on the rooftop. Stormwater from the roof is managed via flow-thru planters that are integrated into the landscape design to minimize site run-off. An additional separate accessory dwelling unit was built as part of a second phase for a home office and storage.
By using a systemized approach, the house supports a high degree of customization while simultaneously minimizing construction time and needless waste. The result is a house that is holistic in its solution, efficient in terms of construction, responsive to comfort, and mindful of the environment.
More information
Architects
Lead Architect and Design Director
Jeff Kovel.
Lead Architect and Principal In Charge
Brent Grubb.
Collaborators
Prefabrication contractor.- MethodHomes.
Area
1,216 sqm (3,930-square-foot).
Location
Portland, Oregon.
Photography
Michael Cogliantry, Jeff Van Bergen.
Jeff Kovel, Brent Grubb. Skylab Architecture
Skylab Architecture was established two decades ago in 1999, in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Jeff Kovel and Brent Grubb. Skylab has grown to 27 employees. Both principals migrated to Portland after architecture school. Grubb spent a decade working for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and San Francisco's Aidlin Darling Design after earning a degree from Ball State University in Indiana. Kovel, after completing his B.Arch. at Cornell University, landed a gig with a Portland-based firm called Architropolis, doing fast-paced projects for retailers and rock stars, most notably a Miami residence for musician Lenny Kravitz. He admired how Architropolis was willing to take on just about any project, of any scope or length.
The firm began developing a repeatable prefab module in 2008, during the Great Recession. From, its Hoke Residence, Skylab firm has gathered momentum with its innovative modular work and wide-ranging commissions, including hospitality work for the W Seattle hotel and the Summit Sky Lodge, an upcoming prefab ski resort in Utah or the just-completed offices of the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant (CBWTP) in north Portland.
The firm began developing a repeatable prefab module in 2008, during the Great Recession. From, its Hoke Residence, Skylab firm has gathered momentum with its innovative modular work and wide-ranging commissions, including hospitality work for the W Seattle hotel and the Summit Sky Lodge, an upcoming prefab ski resort in Utah or the just-completed offices of the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant (CBWTP) in north Portland.
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