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Architect
House Haus, Chicago
Project
2015 North Dayton
Location
A street of row houses in Chicago’s Lincoln Park
neighborhood.
Program
A single-family residence.
Urban Context:
Lined by two alleys the site forms a minor corner
situation within the urban block. In the north are neo-Romanesque residences
as the only immediate neighboring structures to the site. The south is
determined by a solid building at the corner of Dayton Ave. and Armitage
Ave. that emphasizes the end of the urban block. Whereas the average height
of the surrounding buildings is about 38 feet the corner building raises
to about 45 feet above street grade. The alleys in the south and in the
east function as infrastructure to supply the commercial used structures
on Armitage Ave. This causes intensive traffic in both alleys that has
an impact on the security as well as on the maneuverability of vehicles
entering and leaving the site.
Structure and Infrastructure:
The structure of the house consists of a concrete
frame that exposes its open site to Dayton Ave. to allow interaction in-between
the family life in the house and the community. Also, here is the main
entry located. The concrete frame evolves into a wall wrapping around
the backyard of the site to protect house and yard from mechanical and
acoustical impact. To avoid congestion in the alley the garage faces the
alley, easily accessible in the south-west part of the house. Slit into
the concrete frame is a thermally sealed box that extends its skeleton
structure in the eastside and is covered by a wooden curtain wall skin.
Facade Materials and Form:
The primer intention of the facade design is to
integrate the house into the neighborhood. The front facade shows the
west face of the thermal box within the concrete frame. It receives its
formal order from an overlay of interior and contextual factors. The interior
spatial and structural organization setup a division typical for this
neighborhood: in reference to the Italian renaissance it is the classic
notion of the elevated Piano Nobile, above a functional first floor (garage)
that forms an interactive pole in-between street- and family life. The
two bedroom levels on the third and the fourth floor are also connected
to the public space by balconies in the front of the building. Form and
scale of the division is an abstract representation deriving from a formal
analysis of the contextual classic and modern facades.
Greenhouse:
Further applications to the façade are its
inherent passive solar system that provides a heat-loss reduction of approximately
30% minimum. Along with the cities agenda of developing a clean and healthy
environment this project presents a new status of advanced green-technology.
Besides gaining energy the glass facade in the back of the house functions
as a greenhouse atrium that allows practice four seasons gardening within
the interior living areas. Combined with a ground source heat pump and
the thermal mass of the concrete super structure the house will be heated
and cooled completely independent from public recourses and without any
cost for this kind of energy. Only electricity needs to be used from public
recourses.Landscaping:
Although the backyard is lowered about half story underneath grade, the
landscape design preserves its connection to the front yard and the alley
in order to be able to participate in the Sheffield garden walk event.
A path in the setback area to the northern neighbor allows getting from
the front yard on Dayton Ave. to the secluded rear yard. To establish
a looped walkway the fire stair connects the rear yard with an exit to
the southern alley.
