Ultra-Hip Mod Cott Wins Three Awards
Here is a lakeside home that strips architecture to the bare essentials for a modern cottage.
But don’t call it a modern cottage. It’s a Mod Cott! Stripped to the bone!
Here for example is the brutal room in which you’ll wash away the cares of the day. Don’t dwardle! (Actually, this means you will treasure every precious drop of water, and that’s a good thing.)
And it’s concrete for the bedroom floor. Soft rugs are for wimps!
(Also because polished concrete floors throughout don’t off-gas harmful VOCs).
Local Juniper twigs are roped in for construction duty as un-self-consciously as the steel. “It has heart,” said one judge of the Mod Cott from from architecturalpolka. “It’s quirky—that’s what I like about it.”
The super stripped-down and sleek house has nabbed awards from the Texas Society of Architects Design, the AIA Austin, and the Residential Architect Grand Design Award.
And why not.
That giant roof overhang? It’s churning out as many electrons every day as is needed for the home’s entire electricity supply – from solar photons. Sends them to the grid daytime. Takes them back when they’re needed. Efficiently.
And the size of the whole house? Just 1,400 square feet.
And sustainable materials, too. Steel is just about the most recyclable material there is.
And that’s a rainwater harvester you see on the right with the feed off the roof waiting and waiting for a rainy day. And that will come in handy. Texas is in for some horrendous drought over the coming decades.
This is a well thought-out new way to build truly sustainable homes. Simply. Straight to the point. With all the bones showing. I’m loving it!
November 24th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
The house is delightfully hip and cool and green. It also looks uncomfortable to live in–all those cold hard gray surfaces. I can't imagine starting each day in that dreary bathroom, no matter how hip I might feel about it. The metal tub is beautiful to look at. It does not look the slightest bit comfortable though, nor easy to get in and out of safely. Isn't comfort an element of design worth considering, or is this just meant to appeal to young spartans?
November 24th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
This house is wonderful! I have two questions: why are VOCs bad in the house materials but it is OK to spew them into the air with those air sticks (synthetic musk is made from petroleum); is the concrete free of fly ash?
November 28th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Young Spartans, I think! (Yet, I love it too. The bathroom is a deal-breaker for me too, though!)