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BABE | Medina | Minnesota
We continuously try to stretch our role as architects in society. This project was our first attempt at being developers. Working with the City of Medina through its comprehensive planning process, we developed a design for a home located close to one of their many wetlands. The city has been struggling to preserve their wetlands amidst the massive demand for high end housing in their region of the metro. Our solution was to design a home that could restore the wetland, rather than be a detriment to it.
Our first strategy was to site the house so as to allow it to be a buffer of sound and air pollution from the street. The landscape is also conceived as passive to the point of eliminating any unnatural run off from the house to the wetland.
Inside, our second strategy was to design the house so it never needed to be added to. In this sense, the house is conceived of as expandable and contractable with the changing needs of a family. The house can go from one bedroom to five bedrooms and back down to one with the simple modification of interior spaces. The house also accomodates aging in place by providing space for an in-house caretaker's suite, liberal circulation spaces, and proper heights of cabinetry and storage.
The house also tackles a big cultural issue: overconsumption. We took a stand by eliminating the basement and organizing storage very carefully throughout the house. Our hope is that the house will promote buying less by making stuff more visibly apparent. Also, we think this will help us strengthen our relationship with the stuff in our lives, rather than burying our memories in boxes below us. |
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