Peter Reynolds is a true believer in Passive House, so much so that he built his own. And he thinks the time has finally come to go large with the strategy for designing and building more sustainably. He has a big vision for his company’s FlexHouse template, derived from his personal house, which he thinks provides enough “Swiss Army Knife” possibilities for customization and future alterations to suit many clients. “The market had not really stepped up until now,” he says. “But now, people are leaving cities and designing with energy in mind. It’s really here now.”
The clients for this house in Gallatin, New York, were seeking a family-centered rural life with built-in resilience in the face of climate change. Energy and food security were paramount. Their large property also contained a dilapidated Dutch barn they wished to incorporate into the project. “They wanted to be spare in what they do—to do more with less,” Peter explains. “So every space has two or three functions to it and there are no hallways.”
The “full-span structural design” will allow future changes with relative ease, he says. But, with such flexibility already designed in, that might not be necessary. Two 24-foot lift-slide doors open the house to outdoor life, further releasing the plan from constraints. And the restored barn is now a tabula rasa for entertaining, working, or whatever the program du jour may be. Our jury admired the goals of the project and the dedication to a more sustainable model for modern life.
Citation
Residential Special Constraints
North River Architecture & Planning
Gallatin Passive House
Gallatin, New York
Project Credits
Architect: Peter Reynolds and Chris Ruel, project designers/managers; Stephanie Bassler, project architect, North River Architecture & Planning, Stone Ridge, New York
Builder: North River Design Build,
Stone Ridge
Interior Designer: Amy Baratta,
Amy Baratta Design, Beacon, New York
Structural Engineer: Bill Scribner, Kaaterskill Associates, Cairo, New York
Energy Modeling: John Loercher, Northeast Projects, Hillsdale, New York
Lighting Designer: CS Illumination,
New York, New York
Project Size: 3,400 square feet
Site Size: 163 acres
Construction Cost: $875 per square foot
Photography: Randazzo & Blau Photography; North River Architecture & Planning
Key Products
Engineered Lumber: TrimJoist
Entry Doors/Windows: M SORA
Fasteners: Simpson Strong-Tie
Housewrap: Johns Manville Foil-Faced Polyoso
Thermal/Moisture Barrier:
Huber ZIP System
Window Wall Systems: Sugatsune, sliding doors
