STRAW
AVENUE
Florence,
Massachusetts
2012
The Straw Avenue house is located in a walkable community near a bike path. This infill lot sheers down steeply to the east, away from the road. This project is informed by the environment, by the steep slope and the scale of the residential neighborhood.
It is a modern bungalow that breaks free of the context’s traditional gabled and ranch houses while respecting the scale of the neighborhood. The street façade presents a friendly front porch beneath an overhanging roof angled to maximize solar gain for the photovoltaic and solar hot water panels. The roof angle slopes to the north over the more private spaces of the house, creating a strong intersection of two volumes. The front porch shelters the living room from the western sun. The site and house have many sustainable design features that contribute to its LEED Platinum Certification, the highest designation for sustainable building under the U.S. LEED system.
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