Every semester, a group of students and faculty from the University of Massachusetts embark on a task of sustainable proportions, otherwise known as the Semester in Sustainable Design/Build program. Their project from Fall 2013,Carton House, was recently named a Professional Notable in the Educational Initiatives category of the 2014 Core77 Design Awards. That specific semester, 11 students and three faculty members were assigned to help their client in Bennington, Vermont, take on a more sustainable lifestyle through the home she lived in and worked from. Within 16 weeks (barely—more on that later), the team designed and created a 350 sq. ft. mobile home that also incorporates an office space. “There are really two tough aspects to our design," says the design team. “Building something that is (legally) portable and making sure our process allows broad ownership throughout our group."
The team had to take note of the height, width and length restrictions enforced by Vermont’s Department of Transportation, as well as restrictions on the size of the trailer they use to transport the house. “The trick was making a volumetric constraint a catalyst for good design," says the faculty team. “The Carton House was able to really create an engaging space while maximizing area and architectural interest. I can’t commend our students highly enough on this one."
But the more difficult of the considerations was keeping cohesive communication throughout the entire project. “The grace of the dynamic really comes in our individual abilities to relinquish control of ideas to the group," says the faculty team. “If we do this well—again, my hat goes off to our team this year—the design is owned collectively. While we all start to focus on different aspects (kitchen layout, siding details, roof assembly), we maintain appropriate levels of group input and response. It’s a pretty remarkable process that we discuss at the beginning of the course and keep our eyes on throughout."
In addition to the communication challenges and government constraints, the experience of working with physical boundaries of mobility makes this much more than a study in sustainable materials. The group encountered transportation issues part the government ordinances on trailer and house size. “It was a pretty humbling dose of reality when we considered overhead wires and low bridges as wildly concrete design constraints.
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