Architects Mary Griffin and Jerome Christensen speced dark shing…
Architects Mary Griffin and Jerome Christensen speced dark shingles for the exterior to belnd into the trees and shadows of the wooded site.
David Wakely
The double-height window bays helped mitigate the scale of the d…
The double-height window bays helped mitigate the scale of the duplex. “The single bay allows the structure to read as one large house,” Christensen clarifies, “but it also articulates the middle of the duplex and breaks up the wall.”
David Wakely
The entries flank the bay and are situated on the side façades …
The entries flank the bay and are situated on the side façades for added privacy as well as to disguise the fact that this is two residences.
David Wakely
"To stay within budget we avoided expensive interior materials a…
"To stay within budget we avoided expensive interior materials and details in order to include agenerously sized kitchen,” Christensen says of the large, airy kitchen, adding that even the honed granite countertop was economical.
David Wakely
The kitchen opens directly onto a stone terrace, which is seclud…
The kitchen opens directly onto a stone terrace, which is secluded behind a natural wood fence and is adjacent to the front entry as well.
David Wakely
Twin garages connected by a shared access road stand on either s…
Twin garages connected by a shared access road stand on either side of the duplex. What normally would be the back of the house is actually the front elevation just off the main road leading to the main campus.
Courtesy Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects
This prototype is the first of five planned faculty duplexes.
Courtesy Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects
"We did build in flex space in the form of the lower level bedro…
"We did build in flex space in the form of the lower level bedroom," Christensen says of the first floor layout. "The programmatic intent was that this could serve as a separate unit which could house up to two students who for whatever reason may need additional adult supervision in the form of the faculty family living in that unit. In other instances it can be used as either an office or a fourth bedroom if needed."
Courtesy Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects
The bedrooms on the second floor are designed to offer maximum p…
The bedrooms on the second floor are designed to offer maximum privacy should multiple faculty members be sharing the same unit.
Courtesy Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects
This detail drawing shows some of the passive heating and coolin…
This detail drawing shows some of the passive heating and cooling principles at work in the house.
David Wakely
Tight seals, abundant insulation, and highly efficient systems k…
Tight seals, abundant insulation, and highly efficient systems keep energy usage and costs at a minimum.
David Wakely
The widest part of the house flanked by twin garages presents a …
The widest part of the house flanked by twin garages presents a stately facade to the rest of the campus while blending with the scale of the school buildings as well as the dark hues of the wooded site.
This duplex—the first of five that will serve as faculty housing at the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, Calif.—in many ways was not a typical project for Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects. The San Francisco–based firm boasts a wealth of award-winning, high-performance designs, but this project required a new way of thinking.
A donation made construction of this limited-budget prototype possible, but it had to be certified by the Passive House Institute U.S. Sensitivity to old-growth Cyprus trees was also necessary, along with spaces that work for a variety of occupants.
Passive house principles dictate an extremely tight envelope, high R-values, and heat recovery systems. Pebble Beach is chilly and damp with perpetual winds, so impermeable walls, judicious glazing, and toasty interiors make sense. Passive House “teaches us ways houses lose energy that we normally wouldn’t think about,” explains firm principal Mary Griffin.
Griffin and project architect Jerome Christensen reached out to colleagues who had done passive projects to avoid trial and error, and enlisted Passive House consultant Prudence Ferreira. The pair’s due diligence paid off because they were informed from the start about places prone to leakage.
Paying particular attention to windows, doors, and fireplace flue was expected. Other trouble spots weren’t as obvious such as framing studs, thresholds, and exhaust systems. “We’ve never spent so much time thinking about a dryer vent,” Christensen jokes, “but you have to because that one vent basically sucks all of the warm fresh air out of the house.” The team had to find ways to make a tight house using traditional construction techniques and materials. The biggest difference is that the house’s exterior walls are double framed with an outer layer of 2×6 framing and an inner layer of 2x4s, which are positioned to minimize contact with the outer framing. That way there’s always insulation between the wood and the outside to break the thermal bridge usually created by studs. Recycled denim cellulose provides an outer layer of protection while mineral wool insulates the inside wall. Spray foam is even more effective but expensive, so it was used only for the roof. Highly efficient products like triple-pane windows, a sealed gas fireplace, and a recirculating oven vent took care of other trouble spots.
Windows are carefully positioned to capture coastal breezes and avoid excessive solar gain. The duplex program helped because a party wall between units allowed for more glazing on exterior elevations.
The house is a large, stately home to match other campus buildings. Grouping windows together in a double-height boxed bay helped create that look and meant fewer openings to seal. The bays also allow for abundant natural light from more than one direction. Although the windows are high-end, the lack of air conditioning countered that expense. This was the first Passive House project for the architects and their trusted builder, Avila Construction, but it passed the first blower door test, was completed on time, and didn’t surpass its budget. “It sounds like a lot,” Christensen says, “but it’s not that hard to do—it’s all just paying attention to details.”
