The landscaping of the house includes only local plantings. Herbs are located close to the barbecue area so that they can be used while cooking outdoors.
L
ess is more” is the general philosophy of archi-
materials; so instead of using tile in the bathrooms
tectural and marriage partners Erla Dogg Ing-
over concrete, and then grout, they used concrete
jaldsdottir and Tryggvi Thorsteinsson. What
on the walls without embellishment. Whenever pos-
are the chances that two students from Iceland
sible, materials were left in their natural state. All
would meet at an architectural college in California?
lighting is LED to minimize energy use and to adhere
But these two did, and for ten years, they have been
to their quest to use materials that will last as long
designing houses that reflect their vision of the natu-
as possible.
ral aesthetic of Iceland. Since it is an island where everything needs to be imported, natives are more
NATURAL HEATING AND COOLING
likely to recycle materials and use ones that will last
Erla and Tryggvi say their designs are “not about cre-
longer.
ating energy but saving energy.” No air-conditioning
Erla and Tryggvi believe that materials are
system was installed in the house. Cooling is achieved
beautiful in their natural state, so they avoid layer-
through the passive orientation of the house, lots of
ing materials unnecessarily. They also believe homes
windows for natural cross-ventilation, and a cooling
should be built requiring minimal energy, with very
pond, which serves to cool the air before it enters
energy-efficient envelopes. Erla and Tryggvi say
the house. “Night flush cooling” is one of the energy-
people work too hard to make things beautiful, when
saving features. This takes advantage of the tem-
they are already beautiful. Instead of adding paint
perature swings that occur over a twenty-four-hour
to a skim-coated wall, it is left in its natural state,
period in California. Window openings placed close
without paint and other embellishment, which they
to the floor draw cool night air into the house, and
say looks good and conserves materials, energy, and
exhaust openings near the ceiling draw warmer air
waste.
out into the night.
When asked to design a modern, very energy-
Radiant floor heating is used on cool days, and
efficient house for clients in Venice, California, it was
the water for the system is heated by solar hot water
an opportunity for Erla and Tryggvi to employ many
panels on the roof. Lots of mass in the floors and
of the techniques they’d developed over the years.
walls create thermal mass, which aids in the heating
By limiting the use of materials and conserving
and cooling of the structure.
energy, they say they are able to design a beautiful house that will cost less than a typical house and will
PREFAB CONSTRUCTION
be less costly to maintain.
All of the parts of the house were built in a factory,
Superb-A House
with walls precut, predrilled, and numbered for easy
56
WHAT THE HOUSE DOESN’T HAVE
assembly on-site. Erla and Tryggvi developed and
Erla and Tryggvi say, “It is not what the building has,
patented a panelized system with metal structural
it is what the building does not need.” The Superb-A
members and insulation calculated to meet the
House was built using no paint, no tile, no carpet, and
energy requirements at the various exposures of the
no traditional HVAC system. They avoided layering
house. The walls are designed with thermal breaks so