This 3 bedroom, 2 bath hilltop house has a 360 degree view with a lot of exposure to the weather. The walls are made using Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF). The semi-attached garage/ shop and entry greenhouse define an entry garden. A large Kalwall skylight above the central stairway floods the center of the lower floor with natural light. The house is heated passively and with radiant floor heating in the lower floor concrete slab. There are trellises over the patios on the southwest side of the house, the main view side. There is a good sized covered deck on the second floor, accessible from the master bedroom and yoga room. The photos show the house before the landscaping was installed.
There are several companies making Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF). This structural system is basically a polystyrene block with channels, running vertically and horizontally, into which rebar is placed and concrete is poured. The various brands of ICF’s each have their advantages and disadvantages. The manufacturer I chose for the walls of this house is “Perform Wall.” The 2′ x 10′x 10″ thick panels are made from recycled polystyrene cups that are ground up and mixed with concrete to produce a fairly lightweight panel that has an R value of about 28. Unlike most of the other ICF’s, stucco and plaster can be applied directly to the walls. I’ve designed several ICF houses. This is the first one where I used Perform Wall and I’ve used it ever since. Arches and rounded corners are easy with this material. The walls are super-strong, are well insulated, have thermal mass, are fireproof and rodent-proof. The panels are stacked and glued together. The finished openings are cut right into the panels with an electric chain saw and the doors and windows are glued into place.
Project Cost: $750,001 – $1,000,000