United States site instead?San Francisco, CA – Sept. 23, 1999
Architectural designer Britt
Halsell of the Ocala, Florida-based Hal Thomas Reid & Associates won
second place and $1,000 from Residential Architect magazine for his
inspired submission to their annual Homes For Habitat Design Contest
benefiting Habitat for Humanity International.
Halsell’s Archicad design was chosen from 114 entries. An adapted
version of his design is now being constructed in Tacoma, Washington, for
a Habitat for Humanity International family, in conjunction with contest
sponsors Louisiana-Pacific Corporation and Premier Building Systems.
The contest asked for a home design with a simple, livable plan that
could be built by Habitat volunteers under professional supervision. The
design needed to accommodate a multi-generational family of three women,
ages 73, 54 and 29; and two boys, ages 10 and 9. Other criteria included
designing a single-level structure with four bedrooms and 1.5 baths; a
total livable space not to exceed 1,176 square feet (including space for
a furnace); central heating and air conditioning via heat pump; and
keeping the hard costs for materials only, minus the crawlspace, under
$36/sq. ft.
Halsell’s design provides the occupants with two separate zones to live
in: a private space where family members can retreat when necessary; and
a large, open living room and kitchen with vaulted ceilings and capped by
a covered porch at one end and a deck at the other. Halsell’s plan
includes possible furniture layouts and interior finishes including
custom bunk beds.
Halsell elaborates on the firm’s history with Archicad, “We originally
chose Archicad 4.5 because it ran on the Macintosh and was powerful and
easy to use. We’re now using version 6.0 to develop projects – from
complete sets of working drawings to extensive 3D renderings. We use the
program to develop construction details and model complex interior and
exterior forms, for both the client’s benefit as well as ours. The
ability to quickly model something in Archicad is the program’s best
feature for our firm.” For more information on Hal Thomas Reid &
Associates, visit their website at www.htr-architects.com.
Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian
housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and
homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of
conscience and action. Habitat invites people from all walks of life to
work together in partnership to help build houses with families in need.
Habitat has built some 80,000 houses around the world, providing some
400,000 people in more than 2,000 communities with safe, decent,
affordable shelter. HFHI was founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller along with
his wife Linda. For more information on Habitat for Humanity
International, visit their website at www.habitat.org.
Residential Architect, published in the United States by Hanley-Wood,
LLP, is the only magazine exclusively for architects who design homes. It
delivers substantive editorial on marketing, presentation, products,
technology and business management to 20,127 architects and designers.
For more information, visit them on-line at
www.residentialarchitect.com.
Graphisoft is a leading provider of computer-aided design (CAD) software
solutions for the architectural profession and the building industry.
Founded in 1982, Graphisoft is ranked today among the largest AEC CAD
software developers in the world, with 12 offices all over the world in
addition to its headquarters. Graphisoft’s flagship product, Archicad, is
used by more than 75,000 architects worldwide and distributed in 25
languages and 80 countries. Shares of Graphisoft are traded on the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange Neuer Markt under the symbol GPH. More information about
Graphisoft is available at www.graphisoft.com.