Dave's Top 20 Projects Countdown - #7 Vapor House
Linton Engineering, a division of Bennett & Pless
Responsiveness I Creativity I Timeliness
#7: Vapor House, Bethesda, MD
It’s a unique experience as an engineer when you partner with a long-term client to design their personal residence. In fact, this particular architect was Linton Engineering’s very first client.
The dynamic of Client, Architect, and Engineer typically tempers the scope of design challenges, however, Vapor House, completed in 2012, defied this norm entirely. More than a decade later, its one-of-kind design stands as a testament to the architect’s envisioning of the ephemeral qualities of steam or fog coming off a dark body of water.?
Vapor House pushed us beyond conventional limits and marked our first use of precast hollow core planks in residential design. Substantial cantilevers, full-story glass panels and extensive glass corners, when combined with the scarcity of supportive elements, required innovative use of full-story-tall Vierendeel steel trusses. The residence also marked our pioneering use of solid 2-inch-wide bar stock columns, strategically aligned within window mullions to minimize visibility of the steel components.
These intricate design elements culminated in a visually captivating 7,000 square-foot, L-shaped main house to replace the original structure that was destroyed by a felled tree. Fixed glass, retractable windows and doors overlook a terrace and adjacent pool pavilion.
It was on this project that my friend and colleague David Jameson, FAIA coined the phrase, “I’m not happy unless you’re unhappy.” Meaning that until we’ve stretched the structural design work to the extent that we begin to feel uncomfortable with what is being proposed, he hasn’t pushed us far enough.
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Vapor House is the recipient of the 2018 Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA|DC) and 2020 International Architecture Awards.
Client: David Jameson, FAIA
Photo Credit: Paul Warchol Photography
#StructuralEngineering #Challenging #WeCanCantilever #Creativity #Design #Architecture #LintonEngineering #DavidJameson #PaulWarchol