scrap house

ScrapHouse was a unique example of reuse in the greatest sense of the term. An array of materials--collected from salvage yards, dumps, or collected from waste piles at active construction sites--was temporarily transformed into an one-bedroom demonstration house. Scraphouse demonstrates that materials that are thrown away, or considered to be junk, still have an effective life-span. One person’s trash is someone else’s treasure.

 

Challenge 1: DesignRethinking a standard single-family home floor plan, the ScrapHouse Design Team generated an elegant design solution, inspired by the abundance of scrap material. Every material, from the foundation to the front door, was reclaimed and re-used. 

Challenge 2: Search Finding appropriate innovative materials was the next challenge. The team spent three weeks scouring the Bay Area for building materials, furnishings and finishes; purchasing new only hardware and fasteners. Some salvaged materials were re-used for their intended purpose, while others were reincarnated in unusual ways. 

Challenge 3: Build The ScrapHouse team’s final challenge was a two-week blitz build, kicking off the last week of May and concluding with the public opening of the house itself on June 2, 2005.

MATERIALS

Furnishings Cardboard Table & Stool Area artist Miles Epstein crafted this table out of recycled corrugated cardboard, salvaged floorboards, and heavy-duty cardboard tubes. The table was accompanied by a stool made of rolled and carved corrugated cardboard, topped with a comfy seat of wine corks. Concrete Countertop & Sink Berkeley-based Concreteworks sculpted this island specifically for ScrapHouse. The countertop and sink are seamlessly integrated, both made of pieces of colorful tiles set in concrete, which was then glazed to give it a smooth finish. The countertop is available for purchase through Concreteworks, with proceeds going to Public Architecture. Crawling Table This unique sculptural piece was loaned to ScrapHouse. The piece itself was made by area artist Brian Goggin, whose most public installation using this type of sculpture is called “Defenestration” (1997), an entire building covered with this crawling furniture, located at the corner of Sixth Street and Howard. Staircase & Bannister One of ScrapHouse’s most defining features was the staircase, which led up to the mezzanine bedroom. The heavy timber steps and scrap iron banister arrived on a flatbed truck and required a forklift to hoist into place. The staircase was designed and fabricated by Tony Dominski and his team at West Edge Metals. Traffic Light Chandelier Designed by area artist Simon Cheffins, this colorful chandelier is made of old traffic light lenses. The lenses were generously donated by Building REsources. Interior Finishes Conveyor Belt Floors & Walls Strips of conveyor belts proved useful as flooring in the downstairs hallway and also as wall covering in the upstairs mezzanine. The conveyor belt scraps were generously donated by the Department of Facilities Operations & Maintenance at SFO International Airport. Fire Hose Walls Thick yellow fire hoses, previously used by the San Francisco Fire Department, covered the walls of an entire room. The hoses ran from floor to ceiling. Keyboard Wall Although popular with kids and adults alike, ScrapHouse’s keyboard wall was nothing more than aesthetic. It was coated with intumescent (fire retardant) paint, which fluffs up like Styrofoam when exposed to fire. Materials were provided by Bay Area Painting and Alameda County Computer Resource Center. Molding/Trim Wall Traditionally used to frame walls, windows, and doorways, ScrapHouse’s wall of molding and trim provided a towering collage of color. All salvaged, the molding and trim pieces varied in length from six inches to sixteen feet. The trim was generously donated by Building REsources Phonebook Wall Looking through ScrapHouse’s main entryway, visitors were greeted by a wall made of 1,500 phonebooks stacked vertically. The phonebooks were affixed to the sheet metal wall covering with two self-tapping screws drilled through the spine of the book. The phonebooks acted as insulation and helped with the acoustics of the main space. Solid Core Door Floor Our scrap floor is made of solid core doors from a school. We filled the window and doorknob holes with quick set concrete. Tiled Leather Floor Though it turns out leather isn’t an appropriate flooring material in high traffic areas, it can be used as a wonderful surface in lower traffic zones. Then again, most spare bedrooms have less than 4,000 visitors a day!    Exterior Materials Billboard Fence & Roof Due to its temporary nature, ScrapHouse’s was roof was made of old vinyl billboards. The fence that extended from the North wall was clad in the same vinyl billboards, folded into strips. The billboards were generously donated by Clear Channel Communications. Glass Walls Four of ScrapHouse’s exterior walls were made of glass. Tempered, double pane windows were shingled into a steel racking system designed to accommodate the mismatched sizes. In high-rise construction, companies can’t afford to blow the schedule because a window breaks, so they over order windows. Sheet Metal Shingles All of the shingles on the house represent just two weeks of scrap from NuStar Metal Fabricators, which generously donated them. Steel Stud Roof Trusses Steel studs are an unusual material for roof trusses. When we mocked up a two-truss span and tested it for deflection (how much it bent under weight), our experimental truss held much more weight than was required. Many of the steel studs looked brand new or unused because they were; the majority were surplus was local construction sites. Street Sign Siding Street and traffic signed were used as siding for one entire exterior wall, some of which were visible from the interior. The signs were donated by the San Francisco Department of Public Works. + INFO