Cradle To Canopy?

Cradle to Cradle is a movement which says, "Hey, designers. Instead of being "less bad" and working against the environment (sustainable/green) so that we can get our cool designs built, how's about we just work with the environment?"  The book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart of Charlottesville, Virginia aims to get this point across to designers (myself included) that don't usually start off the design process by taking the environment into account.  It opens your mind to a world that you had grown to know as typical, usual, and ordinary.  Go get the book.

I had always avoided C2C as I had never fully grasped the concept, and I also knew it took a lot a lot a lot of research.  I just wanted to design cool things.  But, since this is essentially my thesis project and last before I graduate, I figured I'd give myself a grand challenge.

The competition is to design a C2C house on a site in Roanoke, Virginia, about 30 minutes from our campus.  The lot is roughly 45'x150' (give or take) and it resides on a street corner.  The house itself is around 30'x60' at this point... and has a grid module of 15'x20' (6 modules).

My vision for the house is one which can exist with nature and not against nature.  It acts as nature does, using trees for shade in the spring and summer, allowing the interior temperatures to lower.  In the winter, when the trees have shed all of their leaves, the house gains more sunlight for heat consumption and retention on the interior.  Sunlight is harvested in the winter to keep up with heat needs.

A feature wall of translucent glass panels with some sort of pattern will cast shadows onto the interior walls and floors in a graphic manner, and change with season.

The slope of the ceiling is supposed to aid in plumbing and rain collection, which I'm still working on--but the idea is to have the main plumbing in the middle of the building for both floors.

Lofted spaces on the second floor have sloped ceilings (see the roofline) just like I always kind of loved them.  For some reason, I have a memory of a beach house my family stayed in at Kennebunkport, Maine when I was little and the ceilings were slanted.  Maybe it's just my imagination completely making things up. Always a possibility.

Goals for this week: get a floor plan for both levels and at least determine which spaces go where.  Competition requirements are as follows: foyer, living, dining, and kitchen, along with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths.

I'm excited for this first residential space that I've ever designed--I aim to design it the way I would want a home. It's not about winning the competition, but more about being satisfied with the end product and achieving a true Cradle-to-Cradle house.