Architect Jorge Fortan cements his case for a concrete and foam sandwich house
This TreeHugger has never been fond of concrete, preferring straw and sticks as building materials for houses, but then I never lived in Far Rockaway, NY, where hundreds of homes were destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. That’s why architect Jorge Fontan built this house out of poured-in-place concrete- unlike straw and sticks, the wind can huff and puff but it won’t blow this house down.
The original house was badly damaged and subsequently torn down. The property was developed with the Built It Back Program in New York. The house is elevated as a flood zone design feature. The idea was to build a house that would be sustainable and survive a future flood. It is built with concrete for maximum durability. The house was poured in place concrete and the concrete was left exposed and raw.
© Vincent Molloy
