Project: Heavy Metal
Architects: Hufft Projects
Location: Joplin, Missouri, USA
Area: 6,800 sf
Photographs by: Courtesy of Hufft Projects
Heavy Metal by Hufft Projects
The Heavy Metal Residence is a wonderful modern project designed and developed by Hufft Projects in Joplin, Missouri. In similar fashion to their Baulinder Haus project in Mission Hills and the Artery Residence in Kansas City, this residence is situated in the middle of a densely vegetated plot and makes use of interesting materials to create a minimalist modern living space.
Heavy Metal draws its name, and it’s straight forward industrial aesthetic, from the custom perforated steel panels which form the envelope of the residence. Numbering more than 200 in all, each panel has a unique set of perforations based on a simple set of programmatic responses to interior and exterior conditions, which are scrutinized to determine where privacy (opacity) is most critical and where openness (transparency) is desired.
Once this diagrammatic concept is understood it is processed through a series of computer aided iterations to generate the residence’s signature façades. A gradient of these two polarities gives form to the residence’s signature steel solar screens. Heavy Metal’s plan is a variation on a traditional courtyard parti, with a large outdoor space bound on two sides by the steel and glass façade. The central living/dining area acts as the heart of the residence, with its increased ceiling height and warm walnut ceilings, the space is inviting and comfortable.
This central space is flanked by two wings containing guest bedrooms and the master suite, respectively, which act to define the edges of the private courtyard retreat, while a large photo studio anchors the transition between the three main spaces, completing the L-shaped plan. The lightness of Heavy Metal’s perforated exterior steel skin in conjunction with the monolithic concrete walls, exposed structural steel, warm rich walnut, and large expanses of glass give the home a distinctively classic modernist character.
