2025 Award Winners and Nominees
Project Name
Kittery Point Home
Description
Tucked in the coastal town of Kittery Point, Maine, this waterfront residence boasts stunning views that complement its sustainable design. Built less than 120 feet from the ocean, the home needed to remain strong against harsh weather conditions and ensure comfort and safety for its residents.
Using concrete and Insulated Concrete Forms from Nudura was the perfect solution for this durability and added energy efficiency. A small safe room completely encased in ICF is even hidden under the front entry porch.
Early on, the homeowner had done their own research and came upon Nudura’s Insulated Concrete Forms. From there, they found their local distributor who referred them to the very experienced contractor, Groen Construction. As always, Nudura was available for job-specific insights, customer support and education.
The homeowner’s vision was ambitious given the small footprint, so they opted to build up with 5 levels- the lower house level, garage, first floor of house, storage level over garage and second level over the house and garage! Because of the sloped lot and the presence of ledge in some areas, the footings required 14 steps, something easily accomplished with ICF. Almost all of the footing steps were able to be in 18” increments to match the height of the Nudura block, thus increasing the speed and productivity of the ICF installation. ICFs were also used for retaining walls and bearing walls under the 960 sq. ft. wrap-around deck. This eliminated the need to coordinate multiple trade contractors on a very tight site and schedule.
Evidence
The Kittery Point House deserves to be recognized for the Concrete Innovation Award due to the ingenuity required to navigate several challenging elements.
The house sits 17 feet off the road and is 20 feet from the property line on one side, and 13 feet from the property line on the other. With very little lay-down room, materials and equipment had to be managed strategically to minimize disruption to the neighbors. Carefully planned sequencing and the use of concrete and light-weight ICFs enabled a faster turnaround to enclose the building.
The connector between the house and garage includes a switch back staircase that accesses all 5 floor levels. It was necessary to build two temporary floor systems in this area of the connector to install and pour the ICF exterior walls. In addition, this stairwell area had two 9-foot-tall windows that stretch through two wall pours. The reinforced concrete in the ICF walls provided sufficient rigidity for the 27-foot wall height in this area that was unsupported by an intermediate floor deck.
In the end, the homeowners have a beautiful, energy-efficient coastal home that maximizes the limited footprint and has the structural integrity, safety and comfort required for living so close to the ocean.
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