The Shah Residence was built in Santa Rosa, California, an area that had been scoured by wildfires not long ago. IntegraSpec provided the blocks for this large residence of approximately 5,000 square feet. The home was completed in August 2020. Interior walls used 600 square feet of IntegraSpec and the home also features 2,500 square feet of EPS and 2,500 square feet of ICF Insul-Deck, and a 1,200-square-foot ICF parapet skirt for a total of 19,515 square feet of ICFs used. The house was built in a high earthquake zone requiring multiple reinforced rebar concrete columns and extensive concrete floor and roof beams that were framed out with ICF panels.

Modern Design
This large house features a grand foyer open to the ceiling with a balcony overlooking the front entrance and the living room. An ICF curved wall and concrete curved floating staircase were designed and built going from the main floor to the second floor. The second-floor access to the second-floor balcony was built with a glass bridge. There were several 45-degree angle banquettes and a cantilevered balcony off of the second-floor bedroom. The stairs from the second floor to the roof deck were floating concrete stairs. There is a complete roof deck with a 360 degree view with concrete parapet walls and skirts that support the solar panels, these were built with ICF technology. This design was also incorporated to give the illusion of a pitched roof from the street level. The ICF roof deck and ICF floor deck were poured monolithic with the ICF walls to create a solid thermal mass.

The general wall heights were 10 and 22 feet in the foyer and living room overlook. The roof skirt overhangs were created using geo foam wedges and Insul-Deck to cradle the concrete, the parapet walls were ICF panels and were poured monolithic with the roof skirt. All the 60-inch wide by 18-inch high footings were formed by ganging the web spacers. “IntegraSpec ICF window and door bucks dammed the openings and a build-through technique allowed the walls to be built continuously without having to frame and support the openings, huge time and material savings,” says Nicholas Nikiforuk, the home’s architect. When the walls were poured, a 2-foot void was left at the top of the wall that allowed the ICF floor and ICF roof concrete to be poured into the walls creating a monolithic bond collar.

The house was designed as a contemporary modern look with a flat roof deck. There is a covered lower deck, a second-floor cantilevered deck, and a bedroom cantilevered deck. The upper roof skirt created the look of a pitched roof from street level that also served as a support for solar panels. A glass balcony bridge spanned the second floor to the second-floor deck overlooking the living room. A two-story foyer with an overlooking balcony created a grand entrance, intercepting a curved floating staircase and curved wall. The second-floor stairs to the roof deck were a floating concrete design. 

Zero Utility Bills
With a 7.2 KW solar system, the owners have a zero utility bill. They experience a temperature difference of 74 to 78 from summer to winter. The house is equipped with radiant floor heating and mini splits for heating and cooling to allow room-by-room tailoring. The front office room has a flat ceiling and a vaulted ceiling for extra enhancement. The client used U-Stucco coatings on the exterior which added extra fire resistance and cooling from the summer sun. The upper roof deck maximizes the use of the structure to give the owners a 2,500-square-foot usable deck area that gives them a 360-degree view of their neighborhood.  

Impact On the Industry
Daily visitors and tours were conducted that resulted in several new clients wanting to build with this technology. The design of the house utilizing the roof as a usable space has inspired many new designs using similar concepts. The concrete parapet skirts created a new technique to place solar panels. The owners are extremely happy with their house. They are both professional engineers and were involved hands-on during the building process. The final results exceeded their expectations, and have been great advocates in referring and promoting ICF technology, they allow tours of new prospective clients and share their passion for the technology. IntegraSpec ICF did presentations to the HOA committee and homeowners.