Home of Future - Aglow with Copper and Brass

The Home of the Future, the realization of architect John Bloodgood's vision for living in the 21st century, was recently honored with the CDA's first Copper Quality Home award.

The special award recognizes the efforts of:

Hometime, a nationally broadcast public television show, which will feature the home in a five-part series beginning in November;
Better Homes & Gardens, the U.S.A.'s leading shelter magazine, which will feature the home in their April 1992 issue;
Bloodgood-Sharp-Snider Architects & Planners, Inc., one of the country's most renowned residential architectural firms;
Lundgren Brothers Construction, Minneapolis, builders of the home; and,
Interior Design Partners, Edina, Minnesota, who decorated and furnished the showcase home.

Copper Quality Home award In presenting the award, CDA President Robert M. Payne said the home is an "outstanding example of builders using man's oldest metal for the most modern of applications in order to assure an attractive and worry-free future for its occupants."

Payne added that the sponsors should take "great pride in their choice of copper metals not only for the warmth and beauty they provide the homeowner but for the dependable service, minimum maintenance and lifetime investment value they offer."

Copper sheet was used for roof flashing, valleys and trim as well as the flashing for 16 remote-controlled skylights on the home. All the home's circuits are wired with copper conductors. Copper tube for water distribution was used throughout as were solid-brass plumbing fixtures and solid-brass builders' hardware.

Solid-brass lighting fixtures and copper-sheathed chimney flues can be seen in the main floor living area along with custom-built furniture pieces finished with copper powder paint. The copper metals' theme was attractively carried out in other areas of the home.

In addition to the copper metals, the Home of the Future also features wallboards and insulation made from recycled newsprint and other environmentally-oriented building materials. Several modern building techniques were also employed, such as the use of floor trusses rather than joists.

But you won't see a home for The Jetsons. Hometime's co-host Dean Johnson says, "We wanted to build a house where people would actually want to live twenty, thirty years from now."

The Home of the Future was a highlight of this year's Fall Parade of Homes, the largest in the country, sponsored by the Minneapolis Builders Association.

Copper Power Paint

Major elements in both the Home of the Future in Shorewood, Minnesota, and the $128-million restoration of Ellis Island in New York Harbor, have been painted with copper powder paint. The specially- formulated paint is being used where actual copper would have been impractical.

Home of the Future

Several pieces of furniture in the Home of the Future, engineered and built by Elvig Design, Inc., Minneapolis, a custom furniture and architectural millwork manufacturer, were painted with copper powder paint.

The use of copper paint extends the copper theme of the Home of the future," explains Elvig Design's project representative, Mark Thompson. He describes the paint as "a kind of lacquer with suspended, ground copper powder."

Elvig's custom designed dining table featuring copper powder paint finish

The copper painted furniture in the Home of the Future includes: a media center for stereo components and storage, the center section of which is motorized to raise up a large-screen television for family viewing; a wrap-around, contemporary fireplace mantel; and an innovatively designed dining table.

Ellis Island

Use of the copper paint in the restoration of Ellis Island included painting of the 150 feet of railing in the East wing of the main building, the exhibit area of the Museum of Immigration, according to Vincent Benic, project manager of the restoration for the New York City architectural firm of Beyer Blinder Belle Inc.

We made our own paint, mixing copper flakes with banana oil, Benic says. The copper flakes are called "Extra Brilliant 2000."

Also in this Issue:

Archives:

2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991