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Italian Market Passive House Blog #1 – Soft Soil

| BluPath

Welcome to the first of many blog posts that will outline the construction process for our Italian Market Passive House Project.

Our design called for a two story residence to be built above the old 7-Up warehouse in the Italian Market district of Philadelphia. The existing 80 year old steel structure holding up the roof was deemed insufficient by our structural engineer, and the geotechnical report on the soil below showed that the soil is very soft. A new steel structure with spread footers was designed to provide a sturdy base for the new house above. The existing heart pine roof trusses were salvaged from the roof demolition to be refinished into stair treads and a dining table in the new house. Check back soon to read our next post covering air sealing at the party walls and sequencing the installation of the air vapor barriers.

Building Section

The old 7-Up Warehouse in the Italian Market

Demolition of the existing slab, the roof and steel structure will also be removed.

Excavation of the soft soil to make room for the spread footers

Spread footer forms

Spread footer pour

New steel structure

New steel structure

BluPath Presents! 11th Annual NAPHC 2016

| BluPath

BluPath Design is proud to announce that we will be presenting at three break out sessions during the 11th Annual North American Passive House Conference here in Philadelphia.

On Friday, September 23 at 10AM you can catch Laura Blau, BluPath’s Principal, and Paul Thompson, Principal at IEI Group and one of BluPath’s founding principals, presenting  “Maze to Matrix: Retrofit Challenges – A 4-Unit Townhouse Development.”

Case Studies: Passive Retrofits

“Maze to Matrix: Retrofit Challenges – A 4-Unit Townhouse Development”

Later that day at 4:00pm you can catch Laura Blau, presenting “Designing the Passive Future” along side David Peabody, Alan Barlis, and Laura Biggs.

Architects & Practitioners Hootenanny: Business and Aesthetics

“Designing the Passive Future”

On Saturday, September 24 at 12:30pm Laura Blau and Kevin Davey from BluPath, and Chris Hanson of Hanson Fine Building will be presenting “Up on the Roof – An Italian Market Passive House.”

Passive House Case Studies: Single Family

“Up on the Roof – An Italian Market Passive House”

The Italian Market Passive House is also featured in the Passive Projects Tour on Sunday, September 25.