a Lexus...not just a car: Passive Solar/Sustainable/Barrier-free Home

This was the most involved, most time consuming project I have done thus far. To understand the project requirements, I researched the definitions of passive solar, sustainability, and barrier-free. Basically, passive solar design is all about maximizing the sun’s energy benefits with as little effort as possible. You don’t use solar panels or other active solar methods. It’s all about home orientation, lighting controls, and natural air flow. If you want to learn more about passive solar techniques, click here.

Besides researching what passive solar was, I also learned about the many I also learned how to design a barrier-free home, which involves complete wheelchair accessibility. Check out the ADA Accessibility Guidelines to learn all you ever wanted to know (and more) about the codes and guidelines for barrier-free design. NKBA.org is another helpful resource when designing specifically kitchen or bath areas.

On to the project! From the clients, to the floor plan, to the building lot—everything was imagined by me. The clients, Antonio and Luciana Capri, were an Italian couple wanting a vacation home in Santorini, Greece. Luciana was a wheelchair user and all aspects of the home had to be user friendly for her. Throughout the design, Greece island architecture was combined with contemporary furniture pieces.

Because all aspects of the project were made up, this project was completely unrealistic (let’s not talk about the non-existent budget) but I learned many valuable principles that will help me in real projects. Those included the importance of time management, graphic presentation consistency, and research.

This project had many requirements that were overwhelming at first. But I was able to eat the entire elephant a bite at a time by organizing all of the requirements and then dividing them into smaller projects. I wrote out check lists almost as much as I ideated (sketched out ideas). When I found myself writing a list for all of my to do lists, I had to stop myself and just get to work.

My professor strongly emphasized the graphic presentation of the project. My drawings were formatted with the same title block that incorporated my project logo. This logo was the heading throughout my client book and was repeated on the boards. This instilled in me the importance of a logo and the consistent, professional image that it communicates.

Research is at the core of this project, and really any project. You have to know what you’re before you can do it. You have to know the codes, as boring as they are, in order to create a design that will be usable and worthwhile. Once you have the bones of the project (the codes) you can then move to the muscles (the client’s needs) and finally to the skin (the aesthetics!) of the home.

Below is a selection of the various plans and elevations drawn on AutoCAD. Notes throughout the plans describe the use of passive solar, sustainable, and/or barrier-free considerations. Perspectives, colored elevation, and board photos are also included for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!