New Modern HOUSE BIG DIG-building project by SsD Architects
New modern HOUSE BIG DIG-building project in Boston has a large construction project going on for years to replace the main roads through the city center. Some building materials used for temporary structures or roads on the project is scheduled to be taken to the landfill – that is until a team of designers and construction professionals to come up with the idea to reuse some of the construction materials to build a house (picture below).
This house shows that materials recycling can be an important source of building materials for new homes.
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SsD Architects designed the Big Dig house project in Lexington, Massachusetts.
As a prototype building that demonstrates how infrastructural refuse can be salvaged and reused, the structural system for this house is comprised of steel and concrete discarded from Boston’s Big Dig utilizing over 600,000 lbs of salvaged materials from elevated portions of the dismantled I-93 highway. Planning the reassembly of the materials in as if it were a pre-fab system, subtle spatial arrangements are created. These materials however are capable of carrying much higher loads than standard structure, easily allowing the integration of large scale roof gardens. Most importantly, the project demonstrates an untapped potential for the public realm: with strategic front-end planning, much needed community programs including schools, libraries, and housing could be constructed whenever infrastructure is deconstructed, saving valuable resources, embodied energy, and taxpayer dollars.
