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Case Studies
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Page 5 of 8
Cruciform details set into an exterior wall viewed through the virtually invisible living room window
The attention to detail in the building all flows directly from Wright's designs, right down to instructions on how to treat the mortar between the bricks: "That's a classic Wright detail. He always specified that the horizontal joint [between blocks] be a raked joint in order to give a horizontal shadow and emphasise the horizontal lines of the building. He insisted that the vertical joints are flush-filled to the face of the brick. Each joint is supposed to be three eighths of an inch in order to work with the bricks so that you get six bricks and six joints to a four foot module.
"Another classic detail is he lets the fourth side of a window, in seven places in the building, [merge] directly into a reglet in the brick. These reglets had to be cut by hand in order to let the glazing unit directly into it. The reason he did that was to let the exterior material come cleanly through with no breaks so that you have a natural connection between the exterior and the interior."
Additionally, the glazing has no corner mullions, instead using mitred glass set at an angle of 45 degrees. "This was to break down people's concept that housing was a box you lived in. He wanted to open it out, bring in the outside and bring the inside outside in order for the house to be more organic and connected with nature."
The exterior walls are constructed from bricks that had to be specially made for the job due to the imperial measurements used in the design – 30,000 in total supplied by IBStock.
All the furniture for the house was designed by Wright and built to his specification by JDB Design Ltd.
Eco prototype
Coleman is adamant that Wright is more than just a great architect, but was in fact a prototype for today's ecologically sensitive designer: "Wright generally did not put in air-conditioning into his houses – he designed natural air ventilation systems, including in his own home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He liked to work with local materials rather than imported ones. He emphasised nature – he saw trees as man's greatest friend," he says. "I believe if he was around today he'd be fascinated by products such as Homatherm insulation and those kinds of things."
Both natural ventilation and the use of, as far as possible, locally sourced materials are carried through in Coleman's house. Additionally, the house makes abundant use of passive solar gains with its strategically placed glazing: "The sun path is always critical," says Coleman. As well as maximising daylight, the windows also afford a greater feeling of connection with nature, something that Wright both preached and practised: "It has an almost spiritual quality.
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