Westridge Residence

The Westridge Residence represents the intersection of inspiring design and exceptional sustainability. Built for a family of four, the design focuses on two compact structures—a main house and detached garage with a guest apartment—linked by a trellis of rebar suspended in a natural catenary curve.

The main house contains an open living/dining/kitchen area and master suite on the ground floor. Full-height sliding doors in the open living area and a rotating, suspended fireplace allow the side of the house facing the deck to be completely opened up to the outdoors. A canarywood staircase leads to the upper floor, which houses two bedrooms, a playroom with a kitchenette, small media room, exercise/meditation space (convertible to another bedroom), and an open-air deck with views over the sloping property. The tall ceilings created by the curving roofline allowed for the addition of a small loft space accessed by a ladder in one of the children’s bedrooms.

The detached guest house provides a model for seamlessly incorporating accessory dwelling units (ADUs) into site planning and architectural design. The lower level has an open-air carport, workshop, and storeroom. A weathering steel staircase with Ipei treads leads up to a home office and guest apartment with bathroom and kitchenette. The mechanical system for the unit is separated from the main house, allowing for minimal energy usage when it is unoccupied.

The two buildings are linked by an Ipei deck that runs parallel to a 40-foot long swimming pool. Overhead spans the home's most distinctive design feature: a canopy of closely-space 1/2" rebar strands that provides shade to the outdoor spaces while visually completing the curving rooflines of the main and guest houses. Taking advantage of the large site, a quarter-mile walking trail wanders down from the house, passing a limestone spring and pool and winding through an elm woodland, remnant prairie, and cedar break.

The home uses 22% less energy compared to a baseline case study. A 6.8-kiloWatt rooftop photovoltaic system generates nearly 40% of the home's total annual energy usage, and a geothermal system handles all heating and cooling. The home makes extensive use of low-voltage LED lighting inside, while all exterior lighting has motion detectors or is solar-powered. During construction, 83% of waste by weight was recycled or salvaged. Over half of the materials for framing, sheathing, and decking are FSC-certified products.

A landscape approach utilizing over 100 native species was chosen to complement and enrich the 1.3-acre site’s native prairie and woodland species. The large native plant pallet provides a rich, intricate, and diverse habitat for wildlife that changes through the seasons. The deck that connects the two structures conceals five 2,000-gallon rainwater storage tanks. The collected rainwater is used for irrigation and to compensate for seasonal evaporative loss in the swimming pool. The landscape of primarily native and adapted species reduces the need for potable water used for irrigation. Inside, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures and appliances reduce the amount of potable water used by the owners for everyday activities.