“I worked with these clients for better than 15 years. We worked on their main house and this latest project as a secondary building. They own a bunch of contingent lots, and they all have a great view,” explains architect Barry Price. Their intent was to make this a multigenerational compound, so the project was built for so the kids and grandkids could use the main house, and the client would still be nearby.”
Price continued, “So, they had the land, I knew the family, and I knew that what mattered to them was the view. Then it really came down to finding a spot. In this area, and every town defines it differently, but when you’re above 1,200 feet above sea level you have to go to the planning board to get approval on the site plan and the design in general. In terms of the site disturbance, controlling drainage, material colors, and to minimize how much of it pops out of the hillside; glass reflectivity, shielding lighting, all that stuff. I’ve been down that road dozens of times. Looking at it with all of that in mind, I knew I had to find a spot where I wouldn’t be clearing trees. I knew that I had to make a case that I was minimizing disturbance to the site.”
Because of extenuating factors, including the location and access, using a high-performance enclosure was the perfect remedy for these issues. The build site was a regal roost high up the side of a hillock in the Catskill Mountains, situated on a rocky slope, surrounded by sun, sky, and trees. It’s from this spot that the high efficiency cottage reaches out from its cantilevered perch toward a panorama of mountain summits.
We’ve been building high performance enclosures for decades and were excited to be a part of this one. Building high performance enclosures off-site allows for not only a climate-controlled environment, but a reduction in material waste, and an increase in accuracy, therefore creating a greater efficiency of enclosure production. Offsite construction means our teams work in a safer environment, it lowers the risk of weather-related hardships, and decreases environmental impacts of production on a site like this Catskill one.
“I’m all for innovation and minimizing waste, so until somebody tells me different, off-site fabrication and panelization takes a lot of the head scratching out of the construction process. It’s my go-to unless there’s a compelling reason not to do it. Most of my new houses are done that way, if not all of them. With additions it’s a little bit tougher, but not impossible,” says Price.
“In this place in particular it was a very challenging site, there weren’t many buildable places on the site, and we ended up on a hillside that required a reduced foundation and access was going to be from one side of the building. So, it struck me that panelizing was going to make the job that much more straightforward because the driveway access was good, and the crew could crane the panels onto the foundation and not have to set up staging and run machines around the perimeter.”
Price’s supposition was correct, and by using a New Energy Works high performance enclosure it took a lot of guesswork out of what could have been a difficult proposition. “I would have done it [high-performance enclosure] regardless of the site conditions, but those conditions leveraged my position that it was the right thing to do. In this case, the site logistics, and trying to minimize the disturbance to the site had a lot to do with that, coupled with my principals for the most efficient and expedient ways to build.”
The dependability and predictability of cost, installation processes, and expectations of the high-performance enclosure provides certainties to the architect and builder that don’t often come easily. The human element just as vital, with familiarity of process and teamwork defining factors leading the way to success.
“With the high-performance enclosure, we get a 2 x 6 wall, which is a fairly straightforward product which I had already done two projects with. I knew it well, I knew the process well, I know the players. I think one of the top things you look for when doing residential construction or any construction is predictability. Predictability is the most elusive quality in construction; you can get anything but that. So, working with people that have a lot of experience and have done several projects, the predictability was there. That gave me a lot of confidence for moving forward.”
“A lot of it was driven by logistics, but for me, there’s a lot of cost predictability involved just based on schematic design — barring any particularly demanding engineering requirements — you can get a pretty good cost projection on what the panels are going to be even from a schematic design set.”
Price continues, “I always have something in the pipeline with New Energy Works. I have a team with the people there whether its timber frame or panelization. I have my engineers who are used to working with you, I have my builders that have experience with you, so for me, the more I have a team that understands everybody’s role and how we work together, this again brings a predictability and confidence across the board.”
Architect: Barry Price Architecture
Builder: New Energy Works Enclosures
Photography: Nils Schlebusch
