It’s Kuhl to be Lean
A
rchitect James Meyer grew up on the west coast, but he spent time in New York working for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP before settling in the City of Manhattan Beach, California. Rapid development of the area left Meyer increasingly frustrated. “There seemed to me to be a lot of homes being built by speculative building contractors who didn’t really care about the things I felt were important, such as sustainable building concepts and passive building techniques,” says Meyer. In 1991 Meyer founded LeanArch, a boutique design/build firm dedicated to regionally appropriate sustainable architecture. “One of the main reasons behind becoming a general contractor was that we were running into problems when specifying. Contractors who were unfamiliar with alternative energy systems, or who didn’t know how to source exotic materials, were very hesitant,” explains Meyer. “We found that a lot of times important components of the design were being taken out before they were even looked into.” LeanArch began to quietly stage a design revolution. In 2007 they finished Kuhlhaus I, a site-specific home engineered to lead by example. The project is oriented to optimize daylight and ventilation for passive heating and cooling. It includes radiant floor heating and a solar panel array that provides electricity for tankless “flash” water heaters. Eco-friendly finish materials, including 85% recycled aluminum panels, concrete fiber and sustainably harvested cumaru
BELOW: BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER AS EVIDENCED IN KUHLHAUS 01, A THREE-BEDROOM, THREE-BATH HOME ON A HALF LOT WITH LESS THAN 1,800 SQUARE FEET OF SPACE. LEFT: KUHLHAUS 02 IS A SOLAR-POWERED FOURBEDROOM, FOUR-BATH DWELLING WITH AN OPEN FLOOR PLAN FEATURING DURABLE CUMARU INSIDE AND OUT FOR CONTINUITY BETWEEN THE INTERIOR AND OUTDOOR SPACES.
international wood
IW2010.indd 47
47
8/13/10 9:11 PM