75.9 House

75.9 is a house constructed on a hay farm in the Canadian Pacific Northwest. The house makes use of a technique of pouring concrete into fabric formwork deployed within minimal plywood rib structures, yielding walls and columnar roof forms. A deliberately slow pour and special concrete mix are used to pour each element, in some cases approaching 10 meters tall, in one single long pour. The intention is for the concrete to partially cure throughout the duration of the pour, thus reducing hydro-static pressure and avoiding horizontal cold joints. Micro perforations in the weave of the fabric formwork release water from the surface of the concrete as it cures, making it easy to remove and creating a richly textured woven finish. The technique acknowledges the material’s plastic nature, and prescribes its own unique geometry, which is employed to delineate domestic space. A low-ceilinged zone, rendered in wood, wraps the perimeter of the concrete column elements, offering relief from monumentality and emphasizing the horizontal expanse of the hay field beyond. This compressed zone offers a material contrast to the vaulted spaces created by the concrete columns and operates as a conduit, guiding the inhabitants through the residence as it morphs from mill work, soffit, screen to stair, guard and walkway- under, over and around the columns. The hay field is treated in a similar manner - pulled up, stretched over and wrapped around the volumes of the residence in a series of berms, allowing the entire building roof to be traversed from the exterior. Compositionally, the fabric formed elements are treated as if they were found ruins in the hay field landscape, with the house considered a contemporary construction built around and among them. Differing height and position for each column creates a cinematographic narrative of domestic habitation. The trumpet shape of each column is hollow, allowing planting of mature trees on the occupied roofscape.