The person who will one day call the Hinge House their home will have a lot of people to thank when all is said and done. So much beautiful, better-world work has gone into the home, not the least of which is the work of Charles Hendricks, the lead architect and advisor on the project (and the Betty board member with the most initials after his name!), and the many students at CATEC who finished the project in May.
Though many In Albemarle County have had their eye on it, it remains for sale.
The list is long, but this project is an amazing collaboration in green building. It’s the first high school project of its kind in the United States. From Pella’s window donations to John Meggs’ Nature Neutral’s building supply donations to Albemarle Heating and Air and Beck Cohen’s AC/Heat work, and Murus for the HardiPlank and Benjamin Moore with the low VOC paint, this has been a collective community effort. The green features in this modular home include passive solar, energy efficient AC and heat, the use of recycled products, and the use of advanced framing technologies that maximize insulation and energy efficiency. Not only is this home sustainable and versatile (it’s made of three modular units that can be rearranged a couple of different ways), but it’s also a mobile classroom. Hendricks had to design the home to meet stringent SOL standards for carpentry, which means the students had to learn and construct different types of doors, roofs, materials to meet the core competencies.
The name comes from the hinged roof, which folds down for transportation possibly under bridges, a necessity given the fact that one day this home will be transported to the perfect home lot hopefully to hither (and not yon).
Another hope of this project, as well as with EcoMod and the Piedmont Housing Alliance, is that these modular designs will transform the modular industry into one that appeals to homeowners desiring renovation. Instead of building an addition to your home, you could just order one or two pieces of the modular to fit your needs.
The benefits of modular buildings are numerous. Because the homes are built in a factory, it means less on-site environmental disturbance, less waste generated, better energy efficiency (more air-tightness), and less interference from the elements.
Another Betty-worthy feature: students generated only 3 36 gallon trash bags from the construction of the home. That’s impressive!
All of the proceeds for the sale of this 3 bedroom, 1300 square foot home will by given to the Catec foundation that will support scholarship funds and next year’s house.
So step right up. It’s yours for the taking! Contact Charles Hendricks at cbhendricks@thegainesgroup.com
BWB
p.s. photos coming!
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