Ever wondered about the material choices architects make for their new home designs? An award-winning design team based in Newport, Rhode Island, reveals their approach. This includes their choice to use Ipe wood siding with the Climate-Shield Rainscreen system, and why. With decades of architectural excellence spanning coastal New England and New York, their designs reflect a blend of tradition and quiet modernism.
Estes Twombly Architects is an award-winning design team located in Newport, Rhode Island. Their team prioritizes understanding client needs, establishing design concepts, budgets, detailed drawings, and construction schedules. Rooted in New England traditions, their designs embrace local site and climate conditions, embodying a "quiet modernism" that respects time-honored principles.
For this project, Estes Twombly adhered to their core values by opting for a rainscreen wood siding system. Staying true to New England traditions, they selected a wood cladding with a semi-transparent gray tint, showcasing classic seacoast design principles.
Notably, they chose high-density, durable Ipe hardwood for exterior cladding, emphasizing its extraordinary longevity and exceptionally low life-cycle costs.
The subtle use of muted gray tones reflects local New England weathered wood siding styles, a practical and thrifty tradition. A semi-transparent gray tinted sealer was applied for an immediately respected appearance of naturally weathered coastal wood siding. Over time, the siding can either be maintained or allowed to develop a silvery gray driftwood patina, offering low maintenance and practical elegance.
Hardwood siding adds beauty to facade, with lots of glass for natural lighting
The innovation and quiet modernism of this design are evidenced, subtly yet effectively, throughout the home, inside and out. Especially in the use of high density, durable Ipe hardwood for the exterior cladding rather than cedar. Ipe wood siding is extraordinarily long lasting and offers exceptionally low life-cycle costs.
A gray tinted semi-transparent sealer on the siding allowed the designer to achieve an instantly aged appearance immediately
On this design, a semi-transparent gray tinted sealer was applied to immediately create the respected appearance of naturally weathered coastal wood siding. Over the years, as the tints fade, the siding can either be maintained, or allowed to weather to a silvery gray driftwood patina. Low maintenance and practical.
The siding layout mimics a classic cedar clapboard but employs a back-ventilated, pressure-equalized rainscreen system. The Climate-Shield rainscreen system, engineered to withstand hurricane force winds, adds an extra layer of protection to the building envelope. Its design flexibility, including vertical, horizontal, and diagonal installation, ensures longevity, high performance, and sustainability.
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Estes Twombly's innovative approach extends to the outside corners of the Climate-Shield siding. Instead of typical vertical wood elements, they opted for horizontal outside corners integrated with the wood rainscreen siding. This not only enhances the design with a 'wrapped' appearance but also offers superior performance with pre-mitered and dove-tailed corners, ensuring a cleaner and tighter look.
Innovative horizontal wood outside corners add style, form, and function
Elevate your architectural designs with the timeless innovation of Ipe wood siding. Estes Twombly Architects' meticulous approach to materials, including the use of Ipe hardwood and an innovative rainscreen system, showcases how craftsmanship and practicality can coexist seamlessly. Consider Ipe wood siding for a design that stands the test of time while embracing modern elegance.