Seventh Haven Homes
This project was an opportunity for me as an architect, builder, and developer to put all that I have learned about Green Building into a project that I would be able to share with others. The project achieved a Green Point Rating of 200.
To me, Green Building is about building community. From the assurances I gave the former property owner when I acquired the property, to opening the construction site for behind the walls tours, and to signing the sales agreement with the new Owner, I took pride in the process; as one neighbor stated, I ushered in the “beginning of the beautification of the neighborhood”.
I decided early on that I would use Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) as the structural system and a solar thermal water heater as the domestic hot water and radiant heating system. With those decisions made, everything else fell into place. With simple forms and a flexible floor plan, high quality windows, durable siding and roofing materials, safe and sustainable products, ample natural lighting, and a clean and warm aesthetic that honors the past and looks forward, Seventh Haven Homes was born. Giving consideration to each part of the system and how it relates to the others (Systems Approach) was critical in making sure that the end result would truly be a sum of the parts instead of just a bunch of parts. An example of this is making sure that the foundation system is designed to minimize heat loss from the radiant slab.
Seventh Haven Homes consists of two, 2000 sf. single family detached homes built as condominiums on a single infill lot in West Berkeley that had long been underdeveloped. The site has access from the main street and from the public alley behind it. The homes are placed on the site, each a mirror image of the other, to take advantage of the Southern exposure and share a central courtyard where the common courtyard entry and individual entries to each home are located.
Each home has three bedrooms and two baths at the upper floor along with an open sitting area that looks over the two story entrance foyer. The Laundry area is located at the upper floor off of the Sitting Area. The Lower Floors have the two story entry foyer, an open Kitchen, Dining, Living Area, a full accessible Bathroom, interior access to the Garage (which is heated and has a window and insulated garage door), and a Family/ Media Room/ Office (it has an exterior pair of doors to the courtyard) which is also the fourth legal Bedroom. Each home has a balcony and a partially covered porch at the upper floor.
The satisfaction of getting a phone message from the new owner, left at 10:00 PM on a Friday night, stating she had just received her first PG & E bill and it was “so delicious” that she did not want to leave more information on the message so she could hear my reaction when we spoke next, tells it all.
