Backyard Living Space

Backyard Proposal by Amy Coffman Phillips for Liquid Triangle Sustainability

This is why I love having friends who buy houses - I get to think of fun ways to spend their money!  I have a friend who bought a beautiful home in the downtown area of a local suburb.  The lots are usually pretty small, but she found one larger than most and wanted to expand the living space back there to include an outdoor kitchen and fireplace as well as some additional seating.  I'm pretty happy with it - I hope she is too!

On Biomimicry in Buildings: A Work in Progress

Missing photo credit.  File no longer found.

The integration of biomimicry into the built environment is a work in progress and I am continually looking for models that explore its potential.  Below are my thoughts as of now and I am hoping to continue this discussion for years to come.

• Biomimicry and Living Buildings.  I have heard that the Living Building Challenge was inspired by biomimicry, but I don't know this for a fact.  Even if it weren't, many of its principles are the same: building performance tied to regional characteristics (life's principle to be locally attuned & responsive), limits to growth (integrate growth with development), zero impact (material/energy efficiency), and integrating beauty.  I can think of many building products and a few examples of partial systems integration (the living waste water treatment eco-machine at the Omega Center or various products, as quick examples), but I can think of only one building (Eastgate Center in Zimbabwe) where it has been integrated on both a metophorical as well as performance basis.  I am constantly searching for more examples of building integrated biomimicry and would welcome any suggestions that come my way.
• Nature as Measure.  Similar to the zero impact prerequisite set by the Living Buildings Challenge, using the inherent ecosystem services of a site as a measure to benchmark the ecological performance of a particular building is very powerful.  If a site was formally prairie that absorbed and held x gallons of water, y number of species, and z tons of biomass, designers can strive to create buildings that strive to meet or exceed this threshold.  I especially like the Mannahatta Project as an example because as a virtual ecological restoration of the island of Manhattan, it holds the genius of the original place as a benchmark by which the ecological performance of a site.  Are there similar efforts in other regions of the world?
• Biomimicry in Existing Buildings.  I've started having conversations about biomimicry in existing buildings with architects all across the country.  This is a potentially amazing solution space that is relevant to all major developed cities across the globe.  Beyond integrating biomimicry inspired products into interior fit-outs, how can we begin to emulate life in existing structures?  How does nature reuse materials?  How does nature adapt to changing conditions?  How can our buildings evolve to survive?  And what are natural models that can help guide our search?  This is usually discussed in a metaphorical sense, but I am continually looking for tangible manefestations of this on individual existing buildings. 
• Systems Interaction.  Finally (for now), there are many parallels to how the components of an ecosystem interact and how the components of a building interact.  Systems are systems and I know there are exciting lessons to be learned in this space.  

This is just the beginning and I welcome any and all thoughts from interested parties.


Interesting References (courtesy of Dayna Baumeister)
http://www.d3space.org/competitions/ (previous competitions, natural systems)
http://biomimetic-architecture.com

Holiday Decorations

xmas 001, originally uploaded by dgphilli.

I am loving my planters this year. Flowers in the spring, greenery in the summer, millet in the fall, and branches in the winter. I try to use real berries and plants outdoors to feed the birds (and squirrels) and mulch my garden when they're done.

Proposed Kitchen Retrofit

My friend wants to redo her kitchen and she asked me to send a few quick sketches her way for inspiration. She has a suburban split level home built in the 1970s. As you walk in the front door, an existing L-shaped kitchen with breakfast table is straight ahead with sliding glass doors that overlook a screened in porch and large yard. Her husband is a contractor, so I think she'll get a deal on the construction. Here were the ideas I sent her.

Scheme 1: Kitchen Location to Remain
This scheme keeps the kitchen where it is, demolishes a partition wall between the kitchen and dining, and creates an open concept kitchen/dining room with a breakfast bar. This was the approach she and her husband were thinking of when she talked to me. The problems associated with this design are that it requires moving the sliding glass doors to the dining room side, replacing the window to fit above the counters, and exterior brick work associated with this move. It would also result in people looking at the kitchen sink immediately upon entering the home, which could be a problem.

Scheme 1 Plan: Kitchen Location to Remain

Suburban Backyard Garden

When we decided to move to the Chicago area from New York, we chose a suburb with great schools for our two little kids. We chose this house for its walkable, downtown location but also for its south facing back yard. After years of container gardening, I was looking forward to growing food in a large, ground-based location.

The yard had "great bones" when we purchased it - a large maple shade tree centered on the back door and medium sized bushes planted by the previous owner. We added the fence to create a safe place for the kids to play. We removed about one-third of the backyard grass in favor of a french style square foot garden, a cedar playhouse, and garden beds to surround the minimized turf. The garden itself is approximately 150sf of annual beds, 200 sf of perennial herbs, 50 sf of berry bushes, and ample space for decorative flowers and trees and bushes for privacy.

Practical Sustainability

i've been doing a lot of thinking about what i want this blog to be: interesting, fun and interactive. i want it to help connect a community of similar interests. while my expertise is sustainable architecture, i want it to be more than that -

connecting people in practical sustainable lifestyles

i don't always live up to my ideals. i live in a large house in the suburbs of chicago. i bought this house so that my kids could go to great schools and i could have a yard to grow my own food. but because of these choices, some of the things i do are really just putting "lipstick on a pig." will my hybrid cars, rainbarrel and organic garden ever make up for the embodied energy to build this house that is really too large for my family of four? no, but we did join a walkable community where everything we need is within walking distance so we rarely use the cars. life is about compromise. we make choices that we feel will give ourselves and our families the best chance in life, and sometimes this does not agree with other principles we try to live by.

i think we all do the best we can with what we have. and that's what i'll try to showcase here. practical sustainability.

East Hampton NY Residence

Enlarged model courtesy of Cook+Fox Architects

While working at Cook+Fox Architects in New York, I had the unique opportunity to help design and construct an immense single family home in East Hampton, New York.  The owners came to my previous employer, Rick Cook, specifically because of previous work he had done out there as well as his knowledge and passion for green building.  I got to work on the project because I am a die-hard greenie and had a working knowledge of the technical aspects of green building.  And I had time, a precious commodity at any architecture firm.

The East Hampton home was designed to LEED 2.1 standards before LEED for Homes was released.  While this rating system was not entirely appropriate to this project type, we felt it was a good starting point.  And, due to its size, this project would never qualify for LEED for Homes, which is directed more at builders of tract housing.  We also actively pursued passive survivability issues as Hurricane Katrina and her remnants were forefront in our minds.  We also though hard about luxury homes, both the resource intensiveness of them as well as their inevitability, and decided to pursue green systems on this house as a case study for what can be done. 

Green Features Graphic courtesy of Cook+Fox Architects

The concepts we focused on were preserving the natural dune characteristics of this site on the beach, using open geothermal wells for cooling to eliminate the need for noisy compressors, creating movable storm shutters and storm serge mitigation in case of a hurricane event, and working with an award-winning interior designer to use sustainable materials.  We were also proud of our work to educate and work with the contractor on his first "green" home. 

Building Section Courtesy Cook+Fox Architects

Ever the building science nerd, I was excited when we had the fortune to hire Joe Lstiburek for a day to speak to our office and review our drawings to provide insight.  From him we learned about the benefits of rigid spray foam insulation as both an air barrier and an insulator, in addition to other building specific comments.     

My role on this project was largely one of research and coordination.  I coordinated the work of the interior designer, lighting designer, mechanical and electrical consultants, and our in-house team.  I also conducted and coordinated various research tasks and designed  specific tasks, such as the multiple fireplaces.

[insert LEED information]


No project is ever perfect and compromises are always made.  But by the end of the project we felt we had created a beautiful home that the homeowners were proud of while educating the East Hampton, NY, building community about green building issues. 

     

Ready Mix Service: Interior Retrofit and Addition [Unbuilt]

the studio of liquid triangle worked on a renovation and new addition for ready mix service, inc., a family-owned ready mix concrete company in hamel, illinois, before the business was sold and the project abandoned. the program called for an interior demolition and reconstruction as well as a 800 sf new addition to their office facilities.

Floor Plan

Basic Elevation and Section

Green Features
balancing durability and the nature of their business, rms has chosen stamped concrete flooring.  additionally, south facing glazing with overhangs and built-in planters provide ample daylighting to frequently used areas.

Rooftop Garden

this rooftop garden was amy's personal sanctuary and magical oasis in the city.  the patio is 36' long x 8' deep and paved with bricks.  the only requirements were that plants were in containers and that there be space for a grill.  the final product is both functional and beautiful.  multitudes of herbs, tomatoes, strawberries, and raspberries feed the family.  decorative plant colors are kept consistent and pots grouped.  eating areas are screened from lounge areas by grouped evergreens.  and the bare concrete wall is screened with flowering vines.

vegetation will grow to screen the concrete wall

hanging baskets add vegetation to vertical walls

a small eating space

Small Balcony Retreat

concept sketch

for this small balcony on a highrise near chicago, the constraints are plentyful. the small triangular space measures only 5'x8' at its widest point, it is on the 5th floor in a city known for its cold wind, and nothing can be permanently adhered to the structure.

small balcony plan

the client has a bonsai hobby, so amy created a bonsai balcony complete with dwarf tree and contemplative bench. because ithe solid guardrail obscures any view while seated, the space is inward and contemplative. a flat riverstone pebble mat is mechanically fastened to the concrete floor and a flexcrete triangular concrete planter holds a dwarf evergreen juniper.

bonsai tree as focal point

Cradle to Cradle Home Competition Entry

I haven't uploaded a lot of portfolio work here because i have a hard time uploading and formatting portfolio work on blogger when I will need to hire someone to produce an official website/portfolio in a year or so. But in honor of my Biomimicry Certificate Program interview tomorrow, I thought I would post my entry for the cradle to cradle home competition of 2004 because I referenced it in my essays.

Amy's C2C Home Competition Entry.  Click to enlarge.

the contemporary cradle2cradle home is designed for deconstruction and adaptability. it incorporates a central fireplace for cooking and warmth, operable night insulation, external louvers, and passive ventilation. it supplies its own food and energy, treats its own waste, and is composed of materials that maintain their integrity through multiple lifecycles or are returned to the earth for recycling; the c2c home improves the site on which it sits.