Nothstine Residence
Green Bay, Wis.
Garofalo Architects

A client’s hobby provides the motif for his house’s additions and remodeling

Image © Garofalo Architects

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above.

Located on an acre of steeply sloped terrain, the Nothstine Residence stands out like the smokestacks of Green Bay’s paper plants visible to the south. The most striking feature of the house is the ribbon encapsulated in Fiberglas that weaves along the façade of the house like a tortuous racetrack, an inventive way of incorporating the client’s passion for small-scale slot car racing into the project’s design.

Hired to remodel and enlarge the original saltbox, Garofalo Architects used the ribbon to connect the new additions. A projection that houses a living area, an enlargement of the existing master suite, a study with an integrated grow room, and a home theater are all organized and formed along the continuously folding tectonic ribbon. The original gables of the existing frame building have been removed in favor of a folded shed roof, more in keeping with the workout room, additional parking, and expanded slot car facilities housed beneath it.

The shed, clad in an industrial gray metal siding, provides the ground for the more figural ribbons, which are constructed from engineered lumber over steel trusses. A special router was used to cut the curved steel components that make up the truss assemblies. The precise production of these trusses facilitated the exact placement of the compression and tension members. The steel elements are exposed in the living area, conceived to allude to the ‘roll-cages’ often fitted to high performance racing vehicles. The bent plywood exterior surfaces of the ribbon are encapsulated in seamless fiberglass that is applied through a spray nozzle.

A number of steel elements project from the house as bridges and platforms connecting the kinetic structure back to the landscape. The most dramatic of these is a slender bird-watching platform that is designed to sit at the tops of trees. A shored garden path and aqueduct system furthers the routing and tracking ideas of the architecture.

Formal name of building:
Nothstine Residence

Location:
Green Bay, Wis.

Gross square footage:
8,060 sq ft living + 1,370 sq ft garage

Owner:
Craig & Julie Nothstine

Architect:
Garofalo Architects, Inc.
3752 North Ashland
Chicago, IL 60613
Ph 773 975 2069
Fx 773 975 3005

Principal:
Douglas Garofalo FAIA

Project architect:
Randall Kober

Project team:
Una Moon, Julie Flohr, Carl Karlen, Jason Rebillot, Joshua Roberts

Engineer(s)
Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers, Chicago
Joe Burns, Don Hamlin, Laurice Eppers

Consultant(s)
Landscape:
Landscape Associates, Neenah WI

Lighting:
Morr Sharp Associates

General contractor
DeLeers Construction, Inc., Green Bay
Paul DeLeers project manager
Dan DeChamps site manager
Darrell Paye foreman

Photographer(s)
Craig Nothstine, Garofalo Architects

Renderer(s)
Garofalo Architects

CAD system, project management, or other software used
Maya www.alias.com

Structural system
structural steel fabrication:
Richard Kranz Anton Metalworks inc., Waukegan IL

Exterior cladding
Metal siding:
Foremost Buildings inc., Jefferson WI

Glass curtainwall:
Kawneer www.kawneer.com, Oldcastle Glass www.oldcastleglass.com

Fiberglass:
Fibertech, Green Bay WI

Roofing
Elastomeric:
Firestone, Walsdorf Roofing, Kiel WI www.firestonebpco.com

Fiberglass:
Fibertech, Green Bay WI

Doors
Entrances:
Forms + Surfaces www.forms-surfaces.com

Interior finishes
Cabinetwork and custom woodwork:
Valco Cabinetry, Oshkosh WI

Resilient flooring:
Gerflor, saga titanium www.gerflor.com

Furnishings
Custom steel furniture:
Richard Kranz, Anton Metalworks inc. , Waukegan IL

Conveyance
Garment Handling System:
Railex, Queens NY

HVAC
– Kinnard Heating, Green Bay www.kinnardheating.com
– Munchkin Boiler
– Rehau infloor tubing
– Fast Ductless Split AC
– Spacepac High Velocity hvac unit www.spacepak.com
– Rheem Furnace
– Honeywell Trolitemp Zoning System www.honeywell.com