Design Showcase: Sustainable Backyard CottagesSave the date - May 24th - for one of the most innovative housing events in Seattle this summer.Method Homes and Infiniti RED have joined forces to promote public awareness around one of Seattle’s most affordable infill housing options by hosting the Backyard Cottage Design Challenge Showcase.This event will showcase the work of over 35 local architects and designers who are combining good design with livability and sustainability. Event goers will have the opportunity to view all design challenge entries, meet the designers, participate in the awards ceremony, and enjoy food and drink. Design challenge winners will be selected by a jury of public and professional designers.Awards will be given for the following 5 categories:1. Overall Best Design2. Honorable Mention for Overall Best Design3. Most Innovative4. Most Sustainable5. Most Adaptable (to different sites and programs)Backyard cottages can be built on city lots over 4000sf and are a more sustainable infill option for adding density to the urban landscape. Many homeowners are now exploring constructing these for additional income, extended family or downsizing. We encourage those interested to come & meet the top designers of Seattle’s backyard cottages.Location: SPACE: 7601 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle 98103Date and Time: May 24th – Doors open at 5:30pmEntry: Free & open to the publicJurors include:Seattle City Planning Commissioner, David CutlerPrinciple of Hybrid Architecture, Robert HumbleO’Brien and Company, Colleen GrollAdvisor to the judges:Seattle City Planner, Andrea PetzelFor more information Contact:Brian Abramson. 206.790.2852. brian@methodhomes.net. Method Homes offers sustainability-built, energy efficient, healthy and durable pre-fabricated dwellings with a focus on high quality craftsmanship and client satisfaction.Eva Otto. 206.235.6925. eva@infinitiRED.com. Infiniti RED (Real Estate & Development) is a Seattle-based real estate & consulting firm with an emphasis on next generation efficient green housing.
Yesterday the two 58' Lid Park modules were moved to another location in our shop to receive finishing touches and make room for our next Method Cabin, which framing for began yesterday. More on that project, appropriately named Spencer Lake to come. For now here are some updated pics of Lid Park. Lid Park is scheduled to leave our shop sometime in June depending on when the site work will be completed. In these pics you can see the modules for the first time from a distance and begin to visualize how they will lay out on site. The side of the modules that is visible in these shots is what will be the southern elevation of the home, overlooking the park across the street. The park across the street is essentially directly above the first I-90 tunnel as you head east out of the city of Seattle. The module with the covered cedar deck is the upper master bedroom module, complete with two decks, one being the large rooftop deck visible in these images. You should be able to see the city from this upper level. Either way the southern exposed, territorial view from this lot will be great. The upper master bedroom module features a large custom bath with walk-in tile shower and custom concrete trough with double wall faucet. It also features a large walk-in closet and main sleeping/bedroom area with additional Juliet balcony. The module below will have an additional two decks, one off of the kitchen/dining area and the other another matching Juliet balcony off of the living. The kitchen features custom Black Walnut cabinetry and high end appliances. The home has a strand woven Mocha from Bamboo Hardwoods throughout. Finishing touches on-site will include custom steel railings and metal siding. Stay tuned for a another post identifying the set date. Enjoy the pics.
Lid Park will start getting finishes on Monday. Starting with bamboo hardwood (Bamboo Hardwoods in Seattle) and then trim. Because the trim (formaldehyde free MDF) will be painted the same color (white) as the walls, we are going to install the trim before final paint. In these pictures you can see the drywall is complete. We used a higher recycled content sheetrock on this job than you would typically see on standard construction. We are also installing tile (recycled content tile from Statements Tile in Seattle) on Monday in the master bath shower. We already have the majority of the cabinetry in our shop waiting installation. The cabinets are FSC certified maple boxes with FSC certified black walnut faces. The cabinets were built by Smith Vallee Woodworks, some good friends of ours. I can't wait to see it all come together. The space is really taking shape.
Sustainable Backyard Cottages Design Challenge:Help us create the next generation of affordable, green housing!Method Homes and Infiniti RED are joining forces to promote public awareness of Backyard Cottages in Seattle with the Design Challenge for Sustainable Back Yard Cottages.Call for Submissions!Architects and designers! Method Homes, a Seattle-based custom prefab manufacturer, is looking for innovative backyard cottage designs to offer their growing client base. Design challenge participant’s entries will be unveiled at a public event in May, and top winners will be displayed at the Method Homes/Infiniti RED booth at the Seattle Green Festival in June, showcased on Method Home’s website, and included in all design challenge promotional materials.To submit an entry:* RSVP to brian@methodhomes.net by April 17th* Submit all drawings on a presentation board by May 15th* Winners will be announced publicly the week of May 24thGuidelines1. Submit renderings and floor plans mounted on presentation board. Models are encouraged, but not required.2. Renderings should be drawn to scale but do not need to be electronic or precise.3. Designs shall comply with Seattle City code for Backyard Cottages, which specifies that: cottages can be no more than 800 square feet in area, with a height limit of 15 – 23 feet depending on lot width. Parking is required.4. Designs shall be prefab friendly, so each module must be no wider than 16? and taller than 13?. Method will build with any construction technique and material so there are no limitations. We encourage creativity and innovation.5. Architects retain full rights to their designs and may use them at their discretion.6. Method Homes shall have the right to feature designs on their website (presented as a prefab model available to the public) and on marketing and PR surrounding the design challenge.7. Clients shall contract directly with Architect for use of their design and for further design work.About Infiniti REDInfiniti RED (Real Estate & Development) is a Seattle-based real estate firm with an emphasis on the next generation of efficient green housing. They work closely with Method Homes in promoting their custom prefabs. For more information visit www.infinitiRED.com.
Another prefab home designed by Pb Elemental is in the works for LA. Method has been working with the owner for some time now and we are currently in the process of site feasibility. Below are some images of the home. We're hoping this home takes shape for a summer delivery. We'll keep you posted.
Method is very excited to have the Method Cabin featured in author Sheri Koones new book, Prefabulous + Sustainable, which just hit book stores this last week. We have known about this project for almost a year but to see it in print is very rewarding. It is such an excitingly educational tool on the prefab industry and what the near future will bring. Prefabulous + Sustainable is not just a picture book, rather a thorough study of how companies are building more efficient homes with different prefab methods. It is an honor to be featured next to so many other companies who are trying to build more efficiently and sustainably through off-site production. Below is an excerpt from Sheri's new book. Thank you Sheri!"Over the years, as author of several books on home construction, I've explored many of the ways that people build. Nothing, though, impresses me more than the amazing evolution of prefabrication."You can purchase Prefabulous + Sustainable on Amazon.com.
Today we finished the floor sheathing on Lid Park. Not too impressive to look at but thought I'd post some pics none the less. Notice the floors are now 3' in the air so that our insulation company can spray in the 3" of polyurethane foam around the rims of the floor. It will ensure the floors are airtight and add to the insulation R values between floors. Having them up in the air will also be nice for our plumbers on Monday for rough in floor plumbing! There's also some close up shots of the floor where the roof top deck is going. The joists are smaller and cut at a slope for drainage. This will get sheeted with CDX plywood which is different than the other sub floor. The deck will then get a TPO roofing membrane with a built up cedar deck on top.
We had our first framing inspection today for the Seattle prefab infill project:: Lid Park. Tomorrow morning we start in on floor sheeting. Tomorrow afternoon we will be jacking up the floors for sprayed-in foam to be applied, so once complete we can lower the floors back to the ground for completing the framing. On this home we have been able to use conventional 2x10 doug fir floor joists. Projects past we have used engineered joists.This green built home is going to be set on an infill lot in Seattle, that is only 20' wide. The home itself will only be 12' wide at it's widest point, but the design incorporates outdoor living spaces such as a roof top deck, which will make the home feel much larger than it actually is. This home is being built on spec by a developer out of Seattle, who is excited to be building prefab. The site is located on the end of a city block, with three neighboring streets surrounding it. Across the street is Lid Park, which will no doubt add a ton of value for whomever shall occupy the home. The house looks south over the busy park, so the design incorporates just enough privacy not only from the public, but also the southern exposure.
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