鸢尾花住宅丨美国博尔德丨Tres Birds Inc

Denver-based studio Tres Birds Inc has completed a compact, gabled home using salvaged library fittings and material from a bowling alley in Boulder, Colorado, revealed exclusively on Dezeen.

Known as the Iris Residence, the 2,572-square-foot (240-square metre) single-family residence sits on a newly subdivided, interior portion of a 10,144-square-foot (942-square metre) lot.

Tres Birds Inc has completed an energy-efficient house in Colorado

The low-energy home uses materials pulled from the client's previous office location, which Tres Birds Inc, formerly known as Tres Birds Workshop, designed in 2015 – an archival library for Shambhala Publications entirely out of maple plywood.

When the business relocated to a smaller office in 2021, the shelves and furniture were put into storage for future use, finally finding one with Iris Residence.

It sits on a narrow site in Boulder, Colorado, USA

The residence is situated along a busy avenue, but the design refocuses spaces inward and shields the interiors from street noise.

It is situated in a flood zone, which adds additional challenges to building on the site.

"The most significant challenges were navigating local zoning constraints and meeting the minimum elevation requirements of the site's designated flood zone," the studio told Dezeen, noting the deep concrete base on which the house sits.

The house is oriented towards the side and the backyard

South-facing windows bring light into the linear house, while a south-facing courtyard provides a protected outside space, shaded by double-height columns that turn upwards to form the slats of a lanai.

The grey-toned exterior requires little maintenance with vertical plank siding and a standing seam metal roof. On the interior, the salvaged materials were used to create new spaces.

It has a two-storey library, with elements reused from the client's office

Downstairs, a west-end garage leads to the library and guest room that pass into the primary bedroom on the east end of the house.

The two-storey library leads up to the public areas of the home via a staircase with wood from a burned sugar pine forest.

Upstairs, flooring from a bowling alley was transformed into shelving from the kitchen and living room that sit within the gable roof profile.

An oblong table made for the original office from boxcar train flooring is the centre of the dining space under green pendant lamps.

It features a gabled ceiling

A second guest room sits on the eastern end of the floor, overlooking the private patio space.

"Through intentional design and efficient systems planning, the project achieved a HERS score of 10 at completion, and to date has been producing more energy than it consumes, while also being gas-free," the studio said.

A table upstairs was made with wood from a bowling alley lane

The all-electric home functions off a 6.2-kilowatt solar panel system mounted to the south side of the roof.

With energy-efficient appliances and LED lighting – as well as a properly sized Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) – the home's mechanical systems and upcycled materials combine technology and character.

Iris Residence has a metal roof and solar panels

Founded in 2000 by architect Michael Moore, Tres Birds previously created a Japanese restaurant topped with a soil-free greenhouse and a large mixed-used development with reclaimed metal, both located in Denver, as well as a Douglas fir-wrapped museum for Wisconsin artists in Sheboygan.

The photography is by Mickkail Cain.

Project credits:

Principal: Michael Moore Architect of record: Douglas Newby Project manager: Grealing Altheimer Structural engineer: Gebau Inc. Surveyor: Flatirons Inc. Geotechnical engineer: Triax Engineering LLC