HONOR AWARD – ARCHITECTURE

ThinkHouse
Design Architect: Eric Thompson, AIA
Owner: Dennis and Carol Thompson
Photography: Nancy Belluscio, Eric Thompson 

The ThinkHouse is a writer’s cabin and study space adjacent to a primary residence on Frost Pond in rural New Hampshire. The project is intended as a place apart from the everyday world, a realm of tranquil introspection. In order to achieve this, and because of the beautiful natural setting, the study was raised up from the ground and into the trees.  As sustainability was a primary goal of the design, raising the project has the added benefit of minimal disturbance of the hillside and allowing its watershed to pass under the building. The project is comprised of three main spaces. First, a long, wandering entry ramp is calibrated to the site specific conditions of the trees, boulders and land contours. The ramp is akin to a boardwalk in a nature preserve, a place for congregation and observation as much as for circulation. Secondly, an entry hall provides a transition, a moment of disconnection and reorientation. Finally, the study and reading space itself blossoms as one emerges from the hall, opening generously towards daylight, the forest, and the pond. The project’s interior architecture is organized by means of two intersecting and overlapping systems: a liner of bookshelves and cabinets in dark walnut, and a hovering desktop in carbonized bamboo. These systems follow the contours of the plan and maneuver around windows and doors. The bookshelves deploy the books themselves as an architectural element, a dense and enclosing poche in contrast with the openness of the glazing. The bamboo desktop also appears to float just inside the glazing and just above the cabinets, furthering the concept of thinking as distinct from the things of everyday life. The project’s environmental sensitivity is both conceptual and practical. The study space is carefully tuned in plan and section to preserve the forest and the forest space, and only one living tree was removed to accommodate the project’s construction. The enclosure is extremely energy efficient, with innovative and highly insulated Structural Insulated Panels for the roof and floor structure achieving approximately R-60 and providing clear spans. The project also allows abundant glare-free daylighting via extensive glazing at the north façade, minimizing use of artificial light.  The desktop is fabricated from bamboo, a rapidly renewable material, and its pieces were designed and fit, like a jigsaw puzzle, onto only three 4’x8’ boards to minimize waste and material use. 

http://ericthompsondesign.com/