outside in house
This work was completed while working at PLY Architecture in 2009. Karl Daubmann and Craig Borrum were principals of PLY Architecture at the time.plyplus.com (Borum)
daub-lab.com (Daubmann)
Architect Ply Architecture, Ann Arbor, Mich.—Craig Borum, AIA (principal-in charge); Karl Daubmann, AIA, Alex Timmer (project team)
Storm-Glass Research Craig Borum, AIA (principal-in charge); Julie Simpson, Wiltrud Simbuerger, Sara Dean, Ross Hoekstra, Alex Timmer, Lizzie Yarina, Natasha Mauskapf, Jessica Mattson, Chris Bennett, Jason Prasad (project team)
Three Oaks, MI, 2012
The final iteration of the weekend house emerged after another shift in client‑driven parameters. Tighter economic constraints eliminated the detached studio, and a desire for greater separation between bedrooms led to the introduction of a courtyard that provides both acoustic buffering and increased visual privacy.
At the core of the current design is the striking spatial experience created by interior partitions made from glass tubes filled with storm‑glass solution. These tubes shift in transparency and reflectivity with changing weather conditions. As crystals form or dissolve, they register atmospheric changes, modulate the opacity of each room, and cast dynamic shadows across the interior. Rather than treating glass as a picture window—or as an absence of material—the storm‑glass tubes transform it into a thick, layered medium capable of directing ventilation, diffusing light, providing radiant heat, and producing visual variability at the expense of complete transparency. Glass becomes both an environmental instrument and an immediate aesthetic presence.
In this version, the role of the glass tubes has been streamlined. They now consistently form the interior surface of all exterior openings. The inner layer of tubes defines the torqued elliptical rooms, while the outer surface consists of parallel, vacuum‑sealed tubes that create a weather‑tight, thermally efficient enclosure. Each “window” becomes a materially thick threshold and serves as the sole interior partition, as exterior space pushes inward to form the entry and the central courtyard around which the house is organized.
Ventilation and direct views to the landscape are handled through pivoting wall sections. Separating these functions from the glass assemblies simplifies construction detailing and trade sequencing while simultaneously redefining the relationship between window and wall.
-PLY Architecture
-PLY Architecture
Working this way required me to observe how matter and energy move, accumulate, and transform, and then translate those dynamics into spatial and material strategies. Instead of imposing a design onto a site, I learned to let natural forces participate in shaping it. That shift deepened my interest in open‑ended, responsive architectures—designs that register weather, amplify subtle environmental cues, or evolve with changing conditions.
The project ultimately expanded my understanding of what it means to design with, rather than against, the environment. It reinforced my commitment to processes that foreground natural phenomena as collaborators in generating both form and experience, a sensibility that continues to guide my research, teaching, and practice.