House of Shifting Sands

House of Shifting Sands Elevates Net-Zero House Design Standards

Sited gently on the lower slope of a dramatic sixty foot high coastal bank and surrounded by miles of undeveloped Cape Cod National Seashore beaches and scrub pines is a warm, coastal New England beach house that is more than just a place to enjoy uninterrupted ocean views and sea breezes. Our clients dreamed of a net-zero and accessible house design that would work equally well as both a year-round family “camp” and also as a “thinking retreat” for collaborating with their colleagues.

Merging Eco-Friendly House Design with Award Winning Coastal Architecture

From the beginning of this modern beach house design, it was critically important to us and to our clients – as well as the Town Conservation Commission and National Seashore representatives – that the net-zero house fit into its fragile site seamlessly. Our team responded by designing the house to curve and shift softly with the natural topography and also by envisioning the new native and drought resistant landscaping growing back tight to the house as if both had always been there together.

Elements That Blend Seamlessly Into the Cape Cod Landscape

On the Cape Cod Bay side, this house opens up through walls of glass to endless water views and heavenly sea breezes. Guests enter by way of a long wheel-chair accessible ramp through what will in a few years be a thicket of native pines and bushes, then through curving cedar shingled planes.

In the middle of the net-zero house, just inside the front door, is an architectural “hole” that allows the house to breathe and cool itself naturally most of the year through its floor to ceiling awning windows, saving energy and also providing views of the sky from a shady breezeway on the lower level. Along one wall of the hole is a trellis planted with evergreen and seasonally aromatic flowering vines.

The inland side of the house is tucked into its shifting, sandy landscape and is comprised of cedar shingled planes that float above the ground and contain bedrooms, bathrooms, and the kitchen, and lower volumes of horizontal tongue and groove cedar boards that enclose bedrooms and a gathering space for teenage sons.

Addressing the client’s need for retreat through architectural design

The RUHL | JAHNES team endeavored to make sure the client’s identity and individual needs were fulfilled in the final design. This meant creating several more secluded accessory structures or retreats for more solitary reflection relaxation.

A separate art / yoga / thinking studio was built adjacent to the main house with the following characteristics:

• The studio is feels private but has easy connection to the main house by way of a screen porch and contiguous deck.
• The space includes key comforts such as a full bath and kitchenette.
• An open-air space below is enclosed by wood slats and matching barn doors, and doubles as a summer art studio as well as boat / beach toy storage.

The team also took the house's "camp" persona to heart and designed hidden accessory structures sprinkled throughout the site:

• A deck with an integral hot tub
• Outdoor showers both near the beach path and also near the parents’ bedroom and hot tub
• A remote deck situated atop the coastal bank, perfect for tent camping or picnics
• A small hill-top shed with running water and an espresso machine for uninterrupted reading or reflecting
• Recreational features such as a half basketball court dug into the hill, walking trails, and hammocks hung in a gnarled oak grove
• Two separate fire pits set in sandy sitting areas
• A shady dining area for large gatherings below the raised main deck

Net-Zero House Design Status Achieved

This accessible house is designed to achieve net-zero status on an annualized basis with a 10 kW grid-tied rooftop solar photovoltaic array on both the main house and the studio, along with super high efficiency air to air heat exchangers and energy recovery ventilators. Our clients did not pursue LEED certification but the house was designed with LEED certification in mind.