VS1 Study House Nr. 1

2016

May 4

WHO

Architects: Franz Safford, CEO & Janus Welton
Installer: Around the House LLC

  
WHERE & WHEN

Hudson Valley, NY 

Americas

Complete · 2018

WHAT & HOW

Residential · New Build
4,200 sq. ft. all-glass home
Full VS1-A100 building envelope

The VS1 Study House Nr. 1 is the global headquarters of Innovation Glass LLC and the Safford residence. Nestled in the woods of New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley, the VS1 Study House Nr. 1 is a transformative step forward in the evolution of the house as home experience. While offering an unprecedented connection to the natural world, the building is also an experiment in the latest technology of heating, cooling, and powering a home.

The VS1 Study House Nr. 1 is also a showcase of the many strengths and attributes of the VS1 building envelope technology. Invented by Franz Safford in 2006, VS1 provides designers with an a new kit-of-parts for facades. The flexibility of the system is on display at the study house, which features a stacked glass rectangular prism north elevation, all-glass vestibules, interior and exterior mullions, integrated solar panels and shades, zero sight-line awning and “porthole”-style windows, horizontal glass roofs, and more.

Inside the home, the concept of Critical Regionalism is embraced with the choice of materials and a high focus on local sourcing. The living area used reclaimed barn wood and raw cedar to clad the primary steel moment-frame structure to create a feeling of warmth. The steel was left exposed (including the seismic zone 4 base column connections) in the studio area of the house to celebrate the structure; the color too of the mullions was varied from a champagne gold in the living quarters to black in the work space. The connection to nature the VS1 House enables is unprecedented, especially during inclement weather: the chaos of nature swirls outside while one is completely shielded in glass yet fully engaged in the experience.

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IN THE PRESS UPSTATE HOUSE

In 2013, Safford purchased a property near Tivoli and began work to bring VS1 to the residential market. His own 4,200-square-foot home and Innovation Glass’s headquarters would be the model.

Living in the home, Safford says, has been glorious—especially when the weather’s intense. ‘There was one heavy rainstorm that was so dramatic that it looked like I was inside a waterfall,’ he recalls. ‘I grabbed my camera to film and suddenly the waterfall disappeared and was replaced by all this green. A tree had snapped and landed on the roof. All it did was make a little thud—no crash, no cracks.