On the Potomac, the Sustainable House

Atop a bluff in suburban Maryland, the Sustainable House by McInturff Architects overlooks the C & O Canal.  Beyond that runs the Potomac River.

The home’s 4,000 square feet are broken up into separate spaces to lessen the impact of its volume.  The main living space, elevated to the second level, contains living, dining and kitchen areas.  Private spaces are below, with an exterior courtyard adjacent to the master bedroom that’s 60 feet long. There are also a long wing and a square guest space above the garages.

On the south side adjacent to the living area is a loggia – a porch area that’s neither inside nor outside – protected by a Danish shade system of exterior Venetian blinds by NYSSON.  “They were almost designed for this building,” Mark McInturff said.  “The southwestern sun is almost uncontrollable, and the blinds raise and lower and rotate, even acting as a windbreak in the winter.”

The blinds provide a consistent dappled light, with no loss of view when they’re laid flat.  “It’s a place to open up all the sliding doors from the living room, dining room and kitchen, and to step out to look over the canal,” he said.  “It kind of hovers up in the treetops.”

The architect used striated porcelain for hallway floors, with tiles in various shades of gray, six inches by 24 inches.  At the bottom of a stairwell, a bright square panel provides a “jolt of blue” to awaken anyone mesmerized by McInturff’s rhythmic patterns.

The house is designed to achieve a LEED rating, and utilizes geothermal heat pumps and computer controlled shading controls as well as traditional passive techniques, such as natural cross ventilation, roof overhangs for shading and minimal glass toward the north.

The home that Mark describes as a simplicity on the other side of complexity took two years to build, and was finished about six months ago.

For more on McInturff Architects, go to http://www.mcinturffarchitects.com