|
Art, architecture collide in Folly Beach home
By Holly Fisher
Supplements Editor
Artist David Boatwright has coined a new architectural design style: industrial cottage. It is a fitting description for his new three-story house on Folly Beach. The fixtures and furnishings will be minimal, giving the house a homey and cottage feel, Boatwright explained, but the steel frame and silver corrugated metal siding make it more industrial.
“For the size and muscle of the house, it’s a humble sort of beach house,” he said.
The industrial-meets-cottage idea is Boatwright’s inspiration. He designed the 3,000-square-foot house, and as construction progresses, he can’t help obsessing over the details.
For example, he is still trying to decide how to handle the roof where it overhangs the third floor, an open space housing a master bedroom and bathroom that leads onto a deck along with another room Boatwright has designated for an office. The area will probably be glassed in, Boatwright said, gesturing to the open area topping the walls.
Although not a registered architect, Boatwright has designed a few homes and is working on three on Sullivan’s Island. He has some architectural training and has done some carpentry work. His day job is as an artist, creating murals, specialized signs and pictorials for restaurants and other Charleston area businesses. People come to him seeking unique and unusual designs, he said.
Boatwright lives in downtown Charleston with his wife, artist Molly B. Wright, and their children. The house on Folly Beach will be a second home, a place to relax that is a short walk from the ocean.
Boatwright enjoys transitioning between artwork and architecture. He has been planning this house in his head, and about a year ago, he started on the design. One of the benefits of designing his own house is that he can improvise and make refinements as he goes.
Even though Boatwright thrives on the artistic aspects of designing his house, he has also given considerable thought to the house’s structure. It is a steel frame built several feet off the ground in case of rising water and threatening hurricanes.
Structural insulated panels, or SIPs, make up the walls of the house. Boatwright was familiar with SIPs, having used them on a roof about 15 years ago. SIPs are made of oriented strand board with rigid foam insulation sandwiched between the two boards. The panels make a house stronger and more energy efficient.
The strength, efficiency and “greenness” of SIPs cinched his decision to use the panels on his Folly Beach home. “There are a lot of appealing things about (SIPs),” he said.
Boatwright purchased the panels from local SIPs manufacturer Global Building Solutions. After the panels were purchased and delivered, Boatwright started looking for people who could install them.
By coincidence, he drove past a project in downtown Charleston where Verdi Building Systems was using SIPs on a house. Boatwright met David Hill, Verdi’s co-owner, and discovered the company could help. Verdi, located in Ladson, is a SIPs fabricator but can also provide a crew to install SIPs on a construction project.
In about three weeks, the panels were installed. Boatwright hopes the house will be complete and ready to use in June.
With two artists in the family, Boatwright envisions using the house as a studio and possibly even having an occasional art show in it. It will be an “art-filled house,” he said.
Boatwright studies architectural designs and keeps up with industry trends.
“I do like to look around at publications and see what’s happening internationally,” he said. “I don’t think it was even conscious, but it’s Australian inspired. That’s one of the places where interesting architecture is being done.”
Yet all designs are somewhat original, Boatwright said.
“You can never really copy anything,” he said. “The site where you put the house is the main idea, the driving idea.”
Holly Fisher is the supplements editor for the Business Journal.
E-mail her at hfisher@charlestonbusiness.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version