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The one-bedroom Solar Arcade has 800 square feet of living space and can be built-start to finishfor under $15,000.
STAFF PHOTOS
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An earth-sheltered house for about the price of a
mobile home? It's possible with . . .THE $15,000 SOLAR
ARCADE STAFF PHOTOS
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In the past year or so, while most archi tects have been
struggling to develop plans for homes that could be erected
for less than half again their estimated cost, Angus Wyman
Macdonald has managed to pare building expense to the bone.
The latest brainchild of this Virginia architect (whose
no-frills approach to earth-sheltered construction was
introduced to MOTHER's readers in issue 67, page 174) is
the "Solar Arcade" . . . an 800square-foot, passive solar,
earth-bermed residence that can be completed at a cost
comparable to the purchase price of a trailer or a modular
house.
In fact, Angus has borrowed the best of the techniques
usually applied to conventional prefabricated buildings and
incorporated them in the Arcade's construction. For
example, the designer-with the assistance of Virginia
engineer George Allman-has developed a precut, heavy timber
roof-framing kit . . . which can be secured to the home's
masonry shell by a drill-wielding do-it-yourselfer.
Amazingly enough, the total cost of the Solar
Arcade-including the $2,500 framing kit, other materials,
and major labor -is $14,757 . . . or about $18 per square
foot for the one-bedroom home!
A PREFAB EARTH SHELTER
Two of MOTHER's staffers recently visIted the prototype
Solar Arcade-near Orange, Virginia-and found it a light and
airy dwelling snuggled into a south-facing hillside. Angus
is concerned with making his structures not only
functional, but affordable and easy to build as well . . .
following a concept he refers to as "anxietyfree,
energy-efficient housing". His investigation into, and
subsequent use of, modular techniques has grown out of his
work experience over the past few years.
"I'm constantly amazed at the low cost of well-finished
modular housing, and also at the instant availability of
housetrailer accommodation," Macdonald says. He came to
that appreciation most strongly during his involvement with
the development of a lowcost housing project in Jamaica,
where Angus and a six- to eightman crew were able to erect
a panelized, three-bedroom dwelling-complete with
services-within seven days . . . fore total cost of
$6,000.
This astounding accomplishment remained in the architect's
mind as he returned to his work in the States. Angus began
trying (successfully!) to meet his clients' demands for
comfortable, spacious living quarters without the burden of
huge mortgage payments (he estimates that eight of the
houses he's designed during the past year have been
completed for less than $40,000). As his work progressed,
Macdonald came to realize that he could combine the
energy-efficient attributes of earth-sheltered housing with
the labor- and cost-efficient benefits of prefabricated
construction ... and the earth-sheltered, passive solar
module was born.
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