real walls for a real house. drywall returns at every edge - windows, doors, etc. - and no baseboard. one of the
very first details we drew and insisted on was the reglet reveal wall base detail that is common in museums and
galleries. this allows the walls to float slightly above the finished concrete floor, parroting the concrete reveal that
levitates the overall house volume, and eliminating the need for baseboard. everywhere.
polyurethane spray foam insulation went into our roof cavity. at R6 per inch this meant we only needed 5 inches
of foam to meet R30. it also meant we could eliminate all ridge and soffit vents in the roof to maintain a seamless
transition of the metal at various edges. despite looking like scary yellow industrial slime clinging to the rafters,
spray foam, once expanded, is actually non-toxic and will prevent many of the mold and mildew issues prevalent
with batt.
the window walls of the north facade open up the interior to the exterior yard as much as shear calculations
would allow. fully pocketing glass doors were prohibitively expensive so we used a combination of sliding and
fixed panel glazing to work in tandem with the slatted wood screen that will sit in front: all of the panels operate
within the 3ft module established by the slat screen batons and sliders tuck behind fixed panels where the
screen shades for privacy.
all of the panels fit into a single assembly, without any intermittent framing.a big thank you goes to mark
martinez at metal window corp who worked with us to get the mull and recessed (flush) track details right. the
track fit perfectly into the groove framed out during the slab pour and once the finished concrete topping is added,
the transition between the interior rooms and exterior landing will be seamless.
