Projects

How to (Un)build a House? A Reinvention of Wood Framing

Two photographs, one shows a wood house and the other shows the detail of a wood beams crossing each other and fastened together with green straps.

by Clara Mu He (MArch I ’24)

In recent decades, as we recognize that our extractive practices are driving humanity toward an imminent environmental crisis, there has been a renewed interest in reusing construction materials. Against the backdrop of a national housing crisis, densification policies, and an anticipated surge in residential construction and demolition—compounded by challenges of lumber shortages and sustainability concerns—there is an imperative to rethink how we build and demolish houses.

The predominant method of housing construction in America today is wood framing, which relies heavily on nails and adhesives. This makes materials difficult to reuse and contributes to environmental pollution due to the disposal of wood from demolitions. To divert wood waste from landfills, this thesis proposes a Design for Disassembly (DfD) wood framing system: the Strapped House. Inspired by traditional bamboo construction in Southeast Asia, this system aims to reinvent wood framing by introducing strapping as a non-intrusive means of assembly, facilitating easier disassembly and maintaining material integrity. The approach recognizes the momentum of our current construction industry and leverages the skill sets of local contractors. Instead of centralized prefabrication of panels or modules, the Strapped House system adopts a bottom-up approach, seamlessly integrating into the current labor market of housing construction and empowering local builders to actively participate in sustainable construction and deconstruction.

To demonstrate the application of the Strapped House system, this thesis proposes a three-phased incremental construction on a newly upzoned residential lot in Mattapan, Boston. The proposal illustrates the possibility of building six units on a previously low-density lot, enabling sustainable urban densification.

Two images show different views of a wood model of a house with a sloping roof.
Structural model showing the house in the first phase of incremental construction.
A series of diagrams in black-and-white line drawings show the elements of a wood frame construction system.
Construction Manual of the Strapped House System.
An interior rendering of a house with wood interior and wood and metal structural elements visible. Two diagrams show the elevation and plan of a house.
Phase One: A small house for a couple of ceramic artists, who use the first floor as their office space.
An interior office space with a desk and a high ceiling covered by a wood pitched roof. Structural wood beams cross in the center of the space over the desk. Two diagrams show a plan and elevation for the building.
Phase Two: The artists’ son moves back to live in the house with his wife and daughter, while the artists convert their garage into a ceramic studio space and build an ADU to age in place. The main house is converted into a duplex, with the rent from the attic studio funding the construction loan for the ADU.
An interior space with wood walls and window that looks out onto another wood framed structure nearby. A site plan and elevation for the building are paired with the rendering.
Phase Three: As densification policies intensify, the homeowner transforms the property into a compact 6-unit multi-family development.
A photograph of a wood structure made of beams and panels bound together with metal fastenders.
A 1-to-1 mockup structure is constructed using the strapping method to assess its real-life feasibility and structural rigidity.
Two photographs depict a wood structure of beams and panels held together with metal and plastic fasteners.
Disassembly of the 1-to-1 mockup.