Project posted by Michael Ermann

Bubblewrap Colonial Addition

The exterior of the bubblewrap addition.
The exterior of the bubblewrap addition.
Bubble wrap addition from outside, looking south.
Bubble wrap addition from outside, looking south.
Use of Fiz in window shutter
Use of Fiz in window shutter
Nighttime transparency of addition
Nighttime transparency of addition
Bubble wrap addition exterior
Bubble wrap addition exterior
Bubble wrap addition exterior
Bubble wrap addition exterior
Corten fire pit
Corten fire pit
Routed custom door pull inspired by the Mobius strip
Routed custom door pull inspired by the Mobius strip
Custom door pull inspired by Olson Kundig's hardware
Custom door pull inspired by Olson Kundig's hardware

1 more photo

Credits

From Michael Ermann

Michael Ermann, a tenured faculty member of Virginia’s Tech School of Architecture + Design, added a floating luminous dining room to his 90-year-old brick colonial home. To retain heat in the wintertime, he used an unlikely building material: bubble wrap.

He created sandwich panels he is calling “Fiz” by layering UV-resistant bubble wrap between layers of glass. These translucent insulative panels aren’t intended to replace the building’s windows, but instead replace the opaque wall, storm door, or window shade.

The idea of daylight runs counter to the idea of insulation. For about a decade Michael's been chasing a way to reach both simultaneously in the lab. No one would let him try it out on their house, so he put the concept in his own. 2.5 years into this experiment and it’s working so far. Even on a cold day, the walls feel warm and let a beautiful quality of light in the room.

For more about Fiz, visit www.fizwall.com