The Octagonal Living Unit. A twenty-foot diameter, eight-sided bungalow conceptualized as a low-cost kit house. A sleeping loft overlooks the fifteen foot cathedral ceiling giving the OLU an open, airy comfort. On the left is the original pole-barn construction prototype. On the right, some of the architectural drawings to be used by the panel manufacturer that will produce the kit.

Seen here with changes in roof profile.

The Octagonal Living Unit can be produced as standard low-cost units but the design remains flexible and adaptable, a theme on which one can perform variations. Using the original design as a starting point, it is possible to vary the roof profile, which will produce sculptural changes, or the cladding, which will produce painterly changes.

Seen above plastered with a low-cost clay/tar compound. On the right is a proposal for artists housing at Sculpture Space, Utica, NY

The OLU is built from an innovative panel that is both structure and insulation. Because of the nature of the panels and the octagonal design, the OLU will withstand enormous wind loads and will be extremely energy efficient. These panels will accept steel or plaster just as easily as HardyPlank siding. Using a low-cost substance developed over several years that is applied on top of plaster, the panels can function as a substrate to support a "painted" surface like the one on the left. Alternately, they can simply be clad with steel at the factory, or for a more conventional look, with Hardi Plank, a cement-based clapboard material.