1220 E. 12th Street in Lawrence, Kansas by STUDIO 804

Article source: STUDIO 804

This house is an example of Studio 804’s mission to build creative, sustainable housing in established but marginal urban neighborhoods. Many of which are being revitalized by the growing interest in housing with easy access to the public amenities that are part of a healthy, centralized community.

1220 E. 12th Street is convenient to the vibrant cultural district of downtown Lawrence and to the public transportation system and the bike trails that link the town. It is three blocks from the East Lawrence Recreation Center which offers a wide variety of services and adjacent to Brook Creek Park and its open green spaces, playgrounds and large mature trees.

Evening From Under Burr Oak, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

• Architects: STUDIO 804
• Project: 1220 E. 12th Street
• Location: 1200 E. 12^TH Street, Lawrence, KS, USA
• Photography: Corey Gaffer Photography
  
• Software used: Revit
• Built Area: 1500
• Completed: 2018

East Side Blinds Down, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

The project includes the 1500 sf 3 bedroom primary house and a 400 sf studio accessory dwelling that can be used for an extended family member, Airbnb or rental income. The buildings were designed to minimize energy consumption and solar panels on the roof generate enough electricity to operate the house at net zero energy use over a calendar year.

Studio 804 is a comprehensive one year fully hands on design build experience offered by the University of Kansas Department Of Architecture. We are leaders in sustainable design with thirteen LEED Platinum projects and three Passive House certifications. Studio 804 is a not-for profit 501(c)3 corporation whose participants are graduate students committed to the continued research and development of affordable, sustainable and inventive building solutions. We design and build a new building every year. To learn more, visit the Studio 804 website: www.studio804.com.

East Side Blinds Up, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Front Evening, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Studio 804 has always been willing to build on brownfield and undesirable infill sites in urban neighborhoods. This site was a recently cleaned up scrap yard and is in the FEMA flood plain. Its largest asset is that it is adjacent to the second largest Burr Oak tree on record in Kansas.

The east side of the house opens through unobstructed glazing to the tree. The south elevation is clad with fitted glass that blocks 80 percent of sun but lets daylight enter the living room. The other elevations are finished with glass secured to the outside of insulated metal panels to create a continuous glass box.

The potential negative of the site being in a flood plain was made into a positive by carefully composing the glass box dwellings on concrete plinths of the required height. They seemingly hover within the park like setting created by the magestic oak tree and Brook Creek Park which is adjacent to the east.

Front Fritted Glass, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Accessory Dwelling Evening, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

The building envelope on the 12th Street house is exceptionally air tight, highly insulated and uses an efficient mechanical system to assure a healthy and comfortable interior environment. The materials are all chosen to avoid the unnecessary use of resources and do not emit toxins by off gassing. All the appliances and fixtures are Energy Star rated. The windows and doors are high performance. The roofing is a reflective membrane that reduces heat absorption. The roof also supports the array of photovoltaics that power the house.

The defining sustainable feature on this house is the management and conservation of water. Low flow faucets, shower heads, and toilets were utilized to greatly reduce the amount of water consumed by the homeowner. All but one of the fixtures are water sense rated and an energy-star rated heat pump was installed. The fixtures are minimally distanced from the water heaters to reduce heat loss.

Accessory Dwelling Back, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Acessory Dwelling Entry, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

All storm water is managed on site. It is collected from the rooftops and runs through underground pipes that flow into the soil supporting native Kansas plantings which require little water or maintenance. A pervious driveway made of re-cycled crushed concrete allows the water to be absorbed into the subsurface on site.

To meet FEMA requirements a custom designed pervious retaining wall was welded out of steel grating to avoid blocking the flow of water in a catastrophic event. Keeping the primary house elevated above the mean base elevation but still accessible was a challenge met with a ramp from a concrete pad on the edge of the drive up into the house which necessitated that the driveway be elevated and supported with the retaining wall.

Evening From 12th Street, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Hallway, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Accessory Dwelling Living, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Kitchen To Outside, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Kitchen, Image Courtesy © Corey Gaffer Photography

Student Formwork, Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Student Retaining Wall, Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Students Setting Glass, Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Students Steel Curtain Wall, Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Roofing Robot, Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

West Elevation, Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Image Courtesy © STUDIO 804

Tags: Kansas, USA

Categories: Apartments, House, Residential, Revit

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