10x10x10 Recap

D+A Studio's San Juan Chanel House

Well, another year and another 10x10x10 has passed.  It was a great time and a great venue.  (Confidential to no one: SPL Downtown is one of the most interesting pieces of architecture standing.)  A quick recap of the night’s highlights:

D+A Studios presented the home of their principal, Anne Hamilton.  Unique about this context driven project on San Juan Island: sustainability through program adaptation.  As the family changes, the building is flexible enough to accommodate new relationships.

Batt + Lear let us into their own home as well, in the midst of renovation.  They brought up an ominous foam insulation debate that has been going on in the NWEBG circle and showed us their plan to heat their home with…a $360 water heater.  Inspirational, and we’ll be interested to see if it works, come next year.

SMR Architects showed us the Kenyon House, green housing for the homeless in South Seattle.  Crazy that green has gotten into public projects given the overall initial cost.  We guess that these projects probable only happen in places like Seattle.  Christina Bollo did a great job of demonstrating that delegation between lots of disparate parties (the City, subcontractors, consultants, neighbors) is hard work, but really does work.

These highlights aside, the evening made it clear that green building is still based on run of the mill checklists.  Presenters were content, in a crowd of industry professionals to list off the fact that their homes had radiant heat, grey water recycling, or native plants.  Native plants?  C’mon.  These are all no brainers.  The projects that stood out were those that did something new, different, or (if you had radiant heat run off an old clunker of a water heater), exceptional.  We worry that green building is being dumbed down to satisfy checklists disguised as certifications instead of doing what it was intended to achieve, buildings that allow inhabitants to live harmoniously with nature.

Ok, off the soapbox, it was evident the NWEBG is maturing nicely.  Jim Burton, the current president has given the guild an air of legitimacy that had been lacking for years.  And, if the 10x10x10 was any indication, he’s also brought in new members.  I’m looking forward to future events, and hopefully some more guild outreach.  Good job guys!