Spring 2011 The Brake House
The Brake House is a project revolving around the 5 modes of sustainability, sun, water, wind, earth, and epiphenomenon. It is located on the Fox River in St. Charles, Il and is designed as a rest stop for bikers, runners, and boaters. The Brake House provides all the needs of a rest area and it also educates the public of sustainable methods. The building has a butterfly roof to collect rainwater. The main walls within the building are rammed earth walls to be a part of passive solar heating. The other walls within are made of recycled glass bottles to provide a subtle light and way of using old materials in a new way. The roof also acts as a sun shading device, as well as, the green screen on the south facing side. There are water turbines in the river, and finally the building is naturally cooled by the winds from the river. The building design is meant to be very simple to emphasize the 5 modes and how it reacts to them. It has a small footprint and reaches down to the river in an strong elegant way.