Weinstube translated from German to English is wine room. Located in the basement, it appears to have two (intake and exhaust) of its own ventilation ducts up through the chimney mass, independent of the air conditioning. If so, I suspect the ventilation would not be used during the desert summer for the wine room.
The wine room, air conditioning, the plenum(s), some ducting through perforated ceiling boards, the louvered ends of each wing, an early study drawing showing a large plenum over a bedroom, quite a mystery to me and not usual in Wright's work. The client must have had some special requests, and this is Wright's creative and beautiful response.
Doug K
Heritage Auctions' site
If the plena are open to the air at each end, the house would be a late version of the Fireproof House (in that regard), whose ventilated second-floor ceilings were able to be opened or closed, seasonally.
See second paragraph of this transcription of the Ladies' Home Journal article which introduced the house . . .
See second paragraph of this transcription of the Ladies' Home Journal article which introduced the house . . .
SDR: Never read anything on the Fireproof House before. Thanks.
Something similar could indeed be going on here at Paul V Palmer House.
Provisons are made in the plan for HVAC equipment.
I have not seen anything yet the indicates individual supply vents for rooms.
Would imagine Dkottum correct about it being something like a perforated board or gap between boards.
Individual bedrooms well equipped for cross ventilation: doors low and two layers of vent windows across and above.
BTW - this sounds like a job for our hero Romero.
David where are you?
Something similar could indeed be going on here at Paul V Palmer House.
Provisons are made in the plan for HVAC equipment.
I have not seen anything yet the indicates individual supply vents for rooms.
Would imagine Dkottum correct about it being something like a perforated board or gap between boards.
Individual bedrooms well equipped for cross ventilation: doors low and two layers of vent windows across and above.
BTW - this sounds like a job for our hero Romero.
David where are you?
Perhaps, but the 7th drawing down features a section through a bedroom, topped by a fairly large "Air Conditioned" plenum.Tom wrote:Well ... those ends are labeled as open louvers.
and there is an "air conditioning machinery room" in the basement.
how does it work?
wait a minute ... actually the plenum does not cross above the bedrooms.
The volume of the bedrooms pops up to the high ridge of the roof.
Looks like only the living room receives whatever kind of AC is going on.
Don't know how effective that might have been during extended periods of summer heat. I once moved into a home with a much smaller A/C plenum placed directly below the (insulated) roof, but there was much loss of cool air from the continuous build-up of heat. Problem solved when I moved the plenums down to ground level.
(By the way, I don't believe I've ever seen these drawings before ... It's one fascinating design.)
Among the interesting features of this Palmer design, the children's bedrooms are located outside of the envelope of the main house. You must go outdoors and walk under a covered terrace to reach them.
I think FLW liked the idea, a way of being close to the natural environment in warm climates. Taliesin West would be reminder of this, as well as the old ranch houses of the Southwest.
Of FLW work, Jester (and derivatives) and the Price Grandma House also share this unique idea in a modern house. Maybe others?
The question here is, what does the air conditioning expressed in these plans amount to? Ventilation, compressor driven air cooling, something else, or a combination of these? The design is uniquely centered around this idea, whatever it is.
I think FLW liked the idea, a way of being close to the natural environment in warm climates. Taliesin West would be reminder of this, as well as the old ranch houses of the Southwest.
Of FLW work, Jester (and derivatives) and the Price Grandma House also share this unique idea in a modern house. Maybe others?
The question here is, what does the air conditioning expressed in these plans amount to? Ventilation, compressor driven air cooling, something else, or a combination of these? The design is uniquely centered around this idea, whatever it is.