"Space is the breath of art." Frank Lloyd Wright, 1906

The SAMARA foundation upon which the brick walls are placed is quite innovative in that with no basement and minimal depth, the construction costs are reduced to the smallest degree possible perhaps by as much as 20 to 25 percent.

The foundation of the house is very simple in its construction, being a trench a mere 20" wide and 3' deep. Drain tile is layered down the middle of the trench and then filled to within 9" of the top with large, 3-4" diameter stones. Some fines are mixed in to give a firmness to the foundation.

Next, reinforced concrete is poured to ground level into the trench on top of the rock. In this way, the building foundation for SAMARA is fashioned into a simple 9" concrete beam floating on a solid base of rock.

Any moisture finds its way to the tile and is drained off leaving the house foundation dry, thus resisting freezing and thawing with the raising and falling of ground temperatures.

Another important factor in this innovative type of construction, from the stand-point of freezing and thawing, is that a deep concrete foundation is unnecessary since the heat in the floor further protects the foundation from the usual freezing temperatures of winter.

Overviews of Construction Innovations
[ Nature of Materials ]   [ Building on a Unit ]   [ The Owner's View ]   [ Building the Wright Way ]
[ Historic Perspectives ]   [ Manipulating the Space ]   [ Oriental Influence ]