KieranTimberlake Loblolly House

Streaming video - 2014

KieranTimberlake, an architectural firm based in Philadelphia, is a recognized leader of the "green" architecture movement in the U.S. As this film illustrates, its founders Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake have been developing innovative means to combine sustainable design principles with off-site construction for the mass customization of houses. The firm's Loblolly House, built in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland in 2007, and the Cellophane House, a specially-commissioned design executed for an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in 2008, serve as outstanding examples of the firm's research-based approach. The film takes the viewer on a tour of the small, elegant Loblolly house, named for the pines indigenous... to the area, and demonstrates how the architects employed an aluminum scaffold system, off-site fabricated floor and ceiling panels (called 'smart' cartridges) to distribute radiant heating, water, ventilation, and electricity throughout the house. With the five-story 1,800 square foot Cellophane House, erected for The Museum of Modern Art's exhibition Home Delivery: fabricating the modern dwelling, the architects incorporated lessons learned from the Loblolly House combined with SmartWrap, an energy gathering building envelope for a 2003 exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. As the film makes clear, the Cellophane House's aluminum-frame structure and glass panels snap in place, so that welding and sealing are not needed. On top of that, the house is constructed with 82 percent recyclable materials, LED lighting, and photovoltaic cells for energy supply. Producer: Edgar B. Howard. Director: Tom Piper. more