Although this 7,800-square-foot Springfield home is rectilinear in form and design, it was nicknamed the curved house after the subtle curves that appear throughout. “You actually enter both of the structures on a curve,” says architect Matthew Hufft. “The doors are on a curve, the Spanish tile on the roof has a slight curve, and the steps in the pool have a curve, among other things,” Hufft says. 

The modern residence was conceived in plan as a U-shaped form, featuring a courtyard that allows for a private retreat to an outdoor pool and custom firepit. The master wing flanks one side of the central space and features a bedroom, bathroom, closet, steam room, tornado shelter and home theater, and the other side features general living areas along with three kids’ bedrooms and three bathrooms. 

The home was built with many sustainable features, including a photovoltaic array on the cabana roof, a geothermal heating and cooling system, radiant floor heating, three cisterns to collect rain water from the roof and recycle it for irrigation and a design that provides natural lighting in every room.

Light the Flames: The firepit is recessed into the ground beside the pool. It features Ipe slats on a steel frame, cast-in-place concrete and adjustable flames.

A Bed Like No Other  The bed in the master bedroom was designed and fabricated by the architects. It’s called the 110 Bed because the headboard was made from 110 custom-wrapped leather tiles. The wood in the bed is rift-cut oak with a custom stain. 

Central View The dining room, kitchen and living room all circulate around a central Dogwood tree. This internal courtyard is quite dramatic to watch as the 417-land weather varies and the seasons change.

But the pros at Butler, Rosenbury & Partners made it all happen. The maintenance facility is burrowed into the bluff, and its roof creates a pedestal for the future café and a small suite of park management offices. The structure above is the rooftop pavilion. 

In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, the building features many innovations, including a butterfly roof that allows rainwater to be collected and harvested. It was also noted for its use of local materials, pervious paving methods and extensive daylighting, earning it a LEED Silver certification.

Storage Solution: Garage doors installed on the back of the building provide easy access to the park staff’s maintenance equipment. The storage area sits beneath the facility’s offices and pavilion. 

Top it Off: The patio is a great spot for users of the nearby Jordan Creek Greenway to relax and eat lunch. The glulam beams, guard rail and columns all add clean lines to the well-designed space. 

Well-Planned: Precast concrete was used on the building’s exterior, so the facility would blend in with the other buildings in Jordan Valley Park. The roof overhang and glass were designed specifically with the building’s offices in mind and were chosen to both control the amount of daylighting through the seasons and maximize views to the exterior for occupants. 

Looking Sharp: With a sleek design inside and out, Irving Elementary School has fabulous curb appeal. Rather than being contained to the building’s interior, bold shades expand to the exterior of the building and add a one-of-a-kind character.

Joplin’s Irving Elementary School is the result of two former elementary schools that were destroyed in the infamous 2011 Joplin tornado. “The district decided to replace two smaller elementary schools with one larger facility,” says Project Administrator Michael Sapp. The new building is now a leading example of modern school design. 

 

Rather than using traditional classrooms, the students at Irving are divided into three classroom learning neighborhoods that each house two grade levels. Each neighborhood has central access to the core rooms in the building, including the multipurpose room and cafeteria, the library, the art and music classrooms, multiple project labs and two FEMA tornado-safe rooms, one being the school’s gymnasium.

Classrooms in each neighborhood surround an open project lab for group teaching and student-centered learning activities. Each neighborhood is themed and includes flexible furniture to create playful and colorful environments. And speaking of color, the school is filled with it. “The kids just couldn’t get enough color in the building,” says Sapp. Since the school district wanted to make sure the design was a collaborative team effort that included community members, school board members, faculty, administration and the children who would occupy the building, Sapp and his team worked with an elected group of children chosen to represent the student body during the design process. “We were a little surprised at how vocal the students were,” Sapp says. “At the end of the day, they were instrumental in shaping the building’s design, the colors of the space and more.”

Waking the Imagination: The school’s main entry was designed to excite the imagination with transparency, various paint colors, a high-sloping roof and circular color-changing lights.

Looking in the Library: Bursts of color are continued through the library to encourage creativity and to create a more casual learning atmosphere.

Into the 21st Century: The learning neighborhoods, such as the Pond neighborhood, embody many aspects of the school’s design. They include open project labs that provide playful and colorful spaces for learning and allow transparency to the classrooms, which forms visual connectivity and a sense of community. 

Straight and Narrow: To enter the house, you walk along a narrow, elevated wood walkway (above), as if stepping from the gravel lake shore onto a nearby boat dock. You have to turn a couple of times before reaching the door, which helps build the anticipation of the view of the lake. A glimpse of the lake is revealed at the narrow entryway. 

After Dake Wells Architecture designed a commercial project for this family, they were asked to design a residential space as well. “They came to us and asked if we would be interested in designing a house for them at Table Rock Lake,” says architect Andrew Wells. The firm agreed, and a project team consisting of architect Andrew Wells, architect Mark Wheeler, Bethany Henry and Matt Trtan got to work. 

 

Located at the apex of a sloped peninsula on Table Rock Lake, the two-level, 3,600-square-foot house is sandwiched between older lake houses. “Their intent was to have it be a weekend lake house, but at the same time, have enough space so that they could live in it if they ever needed to,” Wells says. “It’s really a single-family residence more than it is a cabin.”

While the family didn’t have a preconceived notion of style, they were sure of two things: They wanted to be sensitive to the neighborhood around them, and they wanted a fair amount of glass in order to see the lake. “To make the home similar to other homes in the neighborhood, we used a lot of traditional materials that are often used to build lake homes,” says Wheeler. “We just worked to use them in new, innovative ways.” And the home’s entire design and layout were planned to maximize lake views. “We focused the glass to see out to the lake but really limited the glass to have smaller openings around the rest of the perimeter of the house,” Wells says. 

Room to Live The openness of the interior, with its vertical and horizontal connections to the exterior, helps create an airy lakeside retreat. 

From Top to Bottom: The central staircase is made with local oak and occupies the gap between the programmatic bars while allowing daylight to filter to the lower level of the home. A wall of maple anchors the vertical slot of space, while the treads extend the upper floor to the lower level.

Looking to the Lake: Two upper-level patios—one off the living room and the other off the master bedroom— face the lake. The lower level contains a patio area, as well as an outdoor shower.

 

 

Outside Looking In: The southeast view of the rec center shows off the exterior’s cast-stone material. This material gives way to metal, where the building fractures to create the new campus walk. 

 

Let’s Swim: The new natatorium features a leisure pool and lap lanes that provide fun for all students.

Lightening the Mood: The campus walk is a bright and energetic space thanks to maroon glass at the second level, which animates the space with color. 

Life in the Lobby: The lobby is dominated by a large triangular clerestory that admits daylight into the space. And because the gym is transparent, the lobby is always animated with activity.

Hit the Gym: Bold colors add a splash of fun to the center’s three-court gym.