The Truss Home is the third house built as part of the 20K Project, and, like the first two iterations, the project focuses on utilizing interior space efficiently. Additionally, a major design goal of the Truss Home was to examine the use of a wood truss structure, rather than the more traditional stick-frame wooden construction used in previous iterations, with the aim of reducing the number of footings, or piers, required to support the house.
A 10-foot-high truss can span 64 feet, which determined the house’s dimensions. This long, uninterrupted span supports the structure of the house like a bridge, only requiring support at three points along its length. The result is that only four structural footings are required, though two more were added for ease of constructability. As for the interior space, the house has a main living area separated from a smaller efficiency unit. These two spaces are connected by a shared porch between them, and this configuration recalls the vernacular dogtrot style of home. Each of these interior spaces is arranged around a central utility core, which consolidates the house’s utilities and maximizes spatial efficiency.
