Bonny Doon, CA

Having recently acquired a fixer-upper on a south-facing slope of Bonny Doon, north of Santa Cruz, the client came to us to give the place a face-lift and to make it “green.”

The conventional improvements were minor really, and consisted of addition of: a small entry to make entering the home more commodious, improvements to the interior, particularly to the bathrooms and kitchen which were dated, and general cosmetic improvements to make it fresh and bright, such as flooring, wall texturing, interior trim and detailing.

More challenging was the environmental program, and we applied ourselves to this with relish, for the possibilities inherent in the house were enormous. Long and relatively narrow, with an east-west axis at nearly right angles to the sun, and located in a forest clearing with a clean, clear window on the sun, the house fairly begged for solar application. To this end our design added rooftop solar array and solar hot water collectors, skylights and new windows for improved daylighting.

The prospect of overheating the house, a factor to be addresses in its micro-climate, was addressed with exterior solar shading devices. The addition of a new etched-concrete interior floor slab rounded out the solar design package by providing the thermal mass necessary to optimize the design’s performance.

We also performed the structural calculations and structural detailing in support of the environmental package, justifying the roof framing’s ability to carry the new solar arrays, and the wall system to check/bolster its lateral soundness with the addition of the new openings. The floor framing and foundation system was significantly bolstered in the design, to support the new concrete floor.

Ultimately, not all of the improvements package could be realized within budget—the concrete floor fell by the wayside, replaced by a wood floor. The solar array was designed for but not yet installed at the time the owner took occupancy. Yet the design intent, even though not fully realized, make this one of the projects of which we are most proud to have participated.

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