Rappahannock River House - Honor Award Winner
AIA Richmond Chapter 2008 Design Awards
Title: Rappahannock River House (Un-built)
Location: Deltaville, Virginia
Building Type: Housing (single family)
Architect: Watershed Architects; Richmond, Virginia
Owner: Name withheld by request
Square Footage: NA
Date Completed: Un-built
Project Narrative:
The site is a previously developed north-facing bluff approximately 25 vertical feet above the Rappahannock River located roughly 1 mile west of the Chesapeake Bay and the town of Deltaville, Virginia. This property is within a quaint cottage community dating to the 1940’s and is bounded to the south by privately-owned conservation land comprising dense coastal hardwood forests and wetlands.
The design intention was to honor the owners’ request for a casual modernist home conducive to entertaining and healthy living while demonstrating best practices for low-impact redevelopment within the Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area. An existing wood-framed cottage will be deconstructed to make way for a new residence that conforms precisely to the original footprint by re-using the current foundation walls. The planning of the new home captures the essence and enjoyment of the original by providing increased primary living space that functions essentially like a large screen porch. In its construction, all existing framing material will be re-purposed within the new structure and other materials, fixtures/ fittings, appliances, etc. will either be recycled or donated to regional reclamation specialists. With watershed protection as a core impetus, this home will deliver 100% of its water resource by collecting precipitation in a cistern located within the building footprint, as well as vegetated roofs; excess run-off or overflow from the storage systems will be directed to a rain garden to the south in the effort to enhance native habitat while minimizing landscape maintenance and its attendant energy use. Indoor comfort will be achieved through high-mass construction and natural ventilation and backed by an earth-coupled heat pump system with exchange wells confined to the building footprint.
Through the use of modular planning strategies in concert with prefabricated interior and exterior walls, the construction of this home will not require the use of gypsum board or paint. Any wood components that are not sourced from the existing structure will originate from within the State of Virginia or will otherwise originate from within the FSC chain-of-custody. Plumbing and electrical systems will be PVC-free through the use of polypropylene piping and metal sheathed wiring, and all light fixtures will employ LED technology. This home will also perform as an annual net-energy exporter with a photovoltaic roof canopy working in tandem with a vertical axis wind turbine. To enhance passive performance, reclaimed wood will also be employed in the form of a bris-soleil at the south façade and a wind foil to the north to screen heavy head-winds while capturing lateral river breezes; in concert with the wind turbine mimicking a sailboat’s mast, these elements also subtly recall the curvature of boat hulls in appreciation of the local nautical vernacular.
Jury Comments:
“This is a beautiful small project in terms of its representation. But it may also be too small a project to support all the design moves laid over it. The site plan is interesting, and the floor plan may be the best part of the design. The roof terrace is an excellent design move. The overall project has certain ruin-like qualities – expressing the idea of the ruin in the forest. It’s ambitious in its modesty. The west elevation is particularly beautiful. The play of solid and void on the waterfront façade is very strong. This is one of the few projects addressing sustainability overtly in the façade – one of the few truly experimental projects. This project should be rewarded for its ambition – we want to see this built.”
