Philippe Stark always implements ethical and ecological aspects into all of his creations but he also loves to inject fun into his designs and the combination of these three elements are always poetic, rebellious and definitely beautiful. With his P.A.T.H. project that he and Riko collaborated on, we see a second generation of energy efficient prefabricated homes with a large emphasize on Eco-technological systems. Riko is a high tech company with expertise in state of the art insulation and energy producing technology as well as being one of the leading European manufacturer’s of wooden sustainable prefab buildings so it was a natural fit that these two earth friendly designers would come together to create Prefabricated Accessible Technological Homes – or P.A.T.H.
P.A.T.H. is state of the art technology combined with timeless design and the melding of the two has achieved homes with both a high tech and classic outlook that meld and merge seamlessly with neither element dominating the other.
The homes incorporate solar, thermal and wind systems (hidden on the roof) allowing them to be mostly or completely off grid – in fact some of the homes can produce more energy then required.
Both Riko and Philippe Starck push themselves to continually create better and more earth friendly results and P.A.T.H. is an amazing example of this drive and desire.
P.A.T.H. homes are all built using state of the art prefabrication that follows a very precise building process thereby minimizing the possibilities of mistakes during the construction process.
By prefabricating the structures there is less waste, resulting in less material, which means less construction time, and less costs. This translates into both time and money savings for the homeowners and with a large selection of finishes, the homes can fit most budgets.
A turnkey P.A.T.H. home takes less than 6 months to deliver and the assemblage and finishing is usually around 3 months.
The prices are only an astonishing 2500 to 4500 euros per m2 – without any surprises – making earth friendly living within easy reach for the majority of homeowners – and that’s just awesome.
There are two models to choose from; Formentera, which is a single storey concentric design, and Montfort, which is a single storey or two-storey home open to the outdoors. A third structure is designed to be a supplemental guest room, garage or garden studio.
Each of the designs has a variety of floor plans for a total of 34 different combinations ranging in size from 140m2 to 350m2 and from one to eight rooms. Completely adaptable, the homes offer several personalizing options as well.
It’s the ability to personalize the home that makes this prefabricated and earth friendly home so appealing. Who wouldn’t want to choose their own finishes?
To keep the focus on attainability Philippe has kept the architectural details to a minimum, allowing the homeowners aesthetics to be of the utmost importance, leaving plenty of room for individual statements
An example of the flexibility in the design is the various choices of roofs available. The Montfort features a cornice to hide the complete energy producing system but single and double pitched are also available.
With a cornice roof the solar and wind components are contained within the center of the flat roof and can be surrounded by a ring of vegetation that can spill over the edge of the cornice, further integrating the home into its surrounding landscape.
Each of the designs is available in an all-glass outer shell, a combination of wood and glass surfaces or a complete timbered facade.
Customers can mix and match a variety of options within the exterior and interior finishes, fixtures and equipment such as this shade awning that expands out and over the deck or slides seamlessly out of the way above the glazings.
The awning is just one example of the many adaptable features with the P.A.T.H. designs.
Depending on sun exposure the awning can be incorporated on any side singularly or in multiples.
With the retract-ability of the awnings, sun is always just a moment away – or not.
With the awnings hidden and the glazings wide open, P.A.T.H. offers a seamless transition from indoor to outdoor living.
All the individual choices that are available have been quality controlled and hand picked by Philippe Stark and displayed in a catalog of P.A.T.H. fit-outs and finishes making it easy for each homeowner to personalize the home of their dreams.
It was important to Philippe to create a package that everyone would feel comfortable living in.
And really, who wouldn’t feel comfortable owning this?
The idea of having a deck under water would be the highlight of any child – of pet pooch for that matter – and the cooling effect for it would be welcome on any hot summer’s day. I wonder if you could ice skate on it in the winter?
Whether summer or winter, the glazings are designed to keep temperature extremes outside where they belong.
At night, window treatments can easily be pulled across the glass walls for privacy.
Window treatments can also control the amount of light entering the P.A.T.H. home during the day.
Day, night, hot or cold, closed to the outdoors or opened wide, P.A.T.H. designs offer every opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest while still living in an Eco-friendly manner.
Aside from being designed as a lasting multi environmentally considerate home with cutting edge ecological solutions such as impermeable insulation, high Eco-tech systems of solar panels, rooftop wind turbines, rainwater recovery systems etc., they are also easily adapted to a variety of cultures.
P.A.T.H. is all about the right price for the right product, allowing each community and individual have the best product, in terms of quality, technology and durability without sacrificing aesthetics or function along the way.
Philippe Starck – S+Arck Network
Photography by Baptiste Lanne and E. Best
