The Pattern Book Home is the first of four homes designed and built in the North Ward area of Greensboro in 2008. Each house studied a different structural system and each also expanded the palette of exterior cladding used in the 20K Project.
The Pattern Book Home was built with stick-frame construction, and the house’s roof was made using scissor trusses, so named because of their resemblance to an open pair of scissors. The gable form of the roof allows these trusses to be read in the interior volume.
As for the interior space itself, the house mimics Frank’s Home (the second home built in the 20K Project) in which all of the social spaces—living, dining, and kitchen—are placed at the front of the home while the bedroom is tucked in at the back. Unlike Frank’s Home, however, the bedroom and bathroom are both enclosed by framed interior walls to provide extra privacy for the client. The exterior of the house contains a rainscreen cladding built from cedar cut-offs obtained from a local mill. This screen provides an additional layer to the cladding, which increases the home’s adaptability by affording both additional protection against moisture and extra thermal insulation.
