The conservators of Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece home, recently announced that a design jury has chosen Patkau Architects of Vancouver, British Columbia, as the winner of its first-ever design competition for on-site cottages that will support residential educational programming at the legendary home.

Patkau Architects’ winning design for six small, efficient, sustainable cottages will serve as the basis of a final design, to be implemented following regulatory approval and fundraising.  The Patkau design was inspired by Fallingwater itself,  “We took a similar strategy to the meadow above, and tried to intensify the ground form,” explained principal John Patkau.  Preliminary cost estimates come in at $150,000 per unit, the design centered around the the concept of a corrugated- steel culvert with openings carved into the approximately 650-square-foot structures.

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, which preserves and maintains Fallingwater, will build the cottages on the grounds of the 5,000-acre Bear Run Nature Reserve some distance from the house itself.  The design competition is the first that Fallingwater has sponsored for construction of new buildings on-site.

The new cottages will serve an important outreach goal by expanding lodging capacity for participants in Fallingwater Institute’s diverse educational programs.  These unique, immersive educational offerings are tailored to broad age levels and interests – and to people from the Western Pennsylvania region and beyond.

Patkau Architects was among six firms chosen by a preliminary selection committee to participate in a Design Competition of Ideas supported through a grant from The Fine Foundation.  Participants developed designs for low-maintenance, energy-efficient cottages that should create a sense of community and become a benchmark for the design, construction and operation of small-scale green housing.  In addition to using environmentally friendly building materials, the firms’ designs took advantage of natural heating and cooling opportunities to minimize environmental impacts.  Each design included a basic kitchen, fireplace and shower, and incorporated recycling of kitchen and grey water for use in toilets.

via: the architect’s newspaper