September 25, 2006 (RALEIGH, NC) — Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, has received an award from the South Atlantic Region (SAR) of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for his design of a modern, environmentally sensitive residence on Shem Creek in Charleston, South Carolina that required “21st-century solutions to 400-year-old problems.”
The Low Country residence belongs to a physician who wanted a spacious house to share with his son that would feature an abundance of windows open to the view of nature and wildlife on Shem Creek, which includes 100-year-old, Spanish-moss-draped live oaks.
That request came with two enormous challenges, according to Harmon: (1) The best view of the creek would be on the western elevation, where the sun would bake the house on hot summer afternoons, and (2) the house would be located in a hurricane zone, so the windows, as well as the structure itself, would have to withstand up to 150-mph winds and accompanying debris.
For strength, the house was built of steel and laminated-wood (Southern yellow pine) framing that rests on matt-concrete footings. The roof is one large, simple plane that shelters the house from the area’s torrential rains and collects rainwater in cisterns for landscape irrigation. Carports are dramatically cantilevered to shelter the owner’s cars and, in the off-season, boat.
The house’s long, thin shape allows each room to have windows and porches overlooking the water. The operable windows create natural cross-ventilation for the interior, which features locally available Southern yellow pine paneling.
To capitalize on the view of the creek, Harmon designed a large glass wall to front the southwest side of the house. Yet this same wall had to be protected from excessive summer heat gain, while allowing cooling breezes into the house, and had to be protected from extreme weather.
The solution was a series of 10 screens, hinged above the porch, constructed of hand-fabricated metal frames, which house perforated-metal panels, which can protect the house during any season. In their horizontal (open) position, they shade the house in spring and fall. In their vertical (closed) position, they create a shaded porch, allow cooling breezes to enter the house, and keep damaging debris out. Made of hot-dip galvanized steel to resist wind-borne, corrosive salt, the 800-pound screens were also designed and installed to allow a single person to lift and balance them easily as they are moved from one position to another.
The house is approached from a long, sandy drive under a canopy of moss-draped live oaks. A low ramp leads up and into the house. At that point, Harmon says he likes to think that the view of the salt marsh – replete with blue herons, ibis, and water lilies – “unfolds like elements in a delicate Japanese painting. Yet the rock-solid structure and metal screens demonstrate the graceful strength needed to survive in a beautiful, if sometimes brutal, coastal landscape and climate.”
Harmon will receive his award during the SAR/AIA’s annual conference, which will be held this year on October 4 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. For more information on Frank Harmon, visit www.frankharmon.com.
Tags: Charleston architecture, Charleston SC houses, eco-friendly architecture, Low Country SC, modern architecture, SAR/AIA, Shem Creek