Grass Lake, MI (2023)
Project Size: ~800 SF

Fine-Tuned Farmhouse is a system of interventions into a central Michigan farmhouse that enables the house and its inhabitants to play dynamic roles in modulating thermal performance and the passive conservation of thermodynamics.  It includes considerations for experiencing thermal comfort as well as tactile interactions with reclaimed materials. 

Operating upon the south/west elevations, and the spaces anchored by them, these experimental systems are situated to engage with solar radiation, strategically absorbing, storing, or deflecting the sun’s warmth, depending on the time of day and year.  These systems work together to create an adjustable passive flow of warm air between the levels of the home.

The design features the appropriation of hand-operable storm shutters on the house’s south- and west-facing windows to be utilized as a first line of sun-block. The coiling shutters can be lowered into position on the exterior side of the glazing, inhibiting warming on hot summer days, and keeping the interior spaces passively cool.

During cooler weather, the system orchestrates techniques for passive warming by leveraging principles of thermal mass. The lower sun angle of the winter months penetrates through the enlarged windows deep into the living space, landing upon the thermally-conductive slate tile and masonry surface of a built-in hearth bench. This “hot seat” uses the mass of brick and concrete to store thermal energy from the sun’s warmth and slowly release it over the course of the day. Under-seat storage space allows a user to further bolster the thermal mass with removable “water bricks”. The coiling shutters that protect the space from summer sun provide a secondary role in boosting the insulation of a heavily glazed elevation. This slows down the cooling of the interior during cold winter nights.

Below the living space, a basement clerestory anchors the south facade with a “green(house) well”, designed for year-round gardening and animal husbandry. Situated just below grade, the green well is positioned to not only harness the south-facing sun exposure, which it modulates with a retractable reflective shade, but also to leverage the insulating capacity of the earth around it. New operable windows on the basement side allow access into this space from the interior of the home while completing a thermal convection loop between the green well, the basement interior, and the great room above.

The scope of Fine-Tuned Farmhouse extends beyond the house itself to include the introduction of a new underground 1500 gallon cistern. Designed to collect and store rainwater for farm and garden use, the cistern is fitted with both a hand pump and a frost-free yard hydrant. 

The work participates in the owner’s overarching interest in experimental strategies for self-sufficient, low-impact cohabitation between humans, plants and animals.

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This project was completed in collaboration with:

Kasey Vliet - Principal, Project Manager (construction)
Travis Williams - Principal, Project Architect
Elpis Wong - Designer
Trevor Herman Hilker - Designer
Ryan Arthur - Lead Carpenter
Ron Cote - Lead Carpenter
George Crnkovich - Lead Carpenter
Joel Masinde - Journeyperson Carpenter
Cody England - Journeyperson Carpenter

Structural Consultant - SDI Structures

Construction Team: In Parallel Architects + Builders, LLC (general contracting, finished carpentry) Van Ingen Construction, Chelsea Plumbing, Snider Electric, Curtis Drywall, Metal One Mechanical, Alexander Welding, Rain Brothers LLC

Jane Messinger Photography - Finished Photography