Timber House Design | Cove House | Massachusetts | New England | Stanev Potts Architects

The Cove House is located on a sloping pine and scrub oak covered site in coastal Massachusetts. Traditional New England forms and materials were studied and reinterpreted to create a modern, comfortable and contextually responsive home. The building is sited and the program arrayed to take advantage of the layered bay and cove views to the south. Three masses are organized along a glass circulation spine, simultaneously providing broad borrowed views through the main floor of the house from the sheltered rear courtyard to the water beyond.

Sustainable and healthy design elements were fundamental to this project. Building orientation, sun shading, natural ventilation, a white PVC roof and geothermal hydro-air conditioning produce efficient and comfortable temperature control. Renewable, sustainably harvested, local and low impact materials are used throughout. A wind turbine and solar array will generate energy and a rainwater harvesting cistern will be used to irrigate the site planted with native species.........more

The Braver House | Newton Massachusetts Designed By SSD

In many older suburbs, the typical pattern of construction is to replace an existing house with a much larger one built out to the legal setbacks. The Braver House is a prototypical alternative: To instead build a small, efficient residence that simultaneously minimizes its actual footprint, while maximizing its perceived sense of interior space. This is achieved through two devices: By expanding a screen to the setback line expanding the territory of the interior to the exterior, and by shifting the plan and section to capture elongated views from inside to outside. By claiming the under utilized lawn of the typical suburban yard and replacing it with permeable hardscape, potable water use is drastically reduced. Meanwhile the diminutive size of the house is coupled with a completely passive cooling system, a solar powered radiant heated floor and super insulated walls and roof.....more