STICKS AND STONES, CONT.
More than 20 years later, Hubbell & Hubbell remains among the most sought-after green building firms in the county—and the duo have helped pave the way for fellows in the field. “They are constantly supporting and cultivating other architects and builders who are interested in this work,” FitzSimons says. She points to local straw bale builders like Simple Construct Homes, noting, “I don’t think that firm would be around if it weren’t for what Hubbell & Hubbell have done.” The Hubbells have found such success, perhaps, because their work may resonate even with clients whose primary concerns are aesthetics or function over sustainability. Their approach is holistic: “We respect the earth and the environment,” Drew says, “but also the clients and the site we’re designing for. Most of our projects don’t have a familiar design style because they grow from the [landscape] and the clients’ needs.” For example, at Deer Park Monastery, a Buddhist institution just north of Escondido, Drew and his team built three different structures totalling 4,500 square feet in 2016. Formerly, the monastery’s nuns slept in small wooden shacks. “They would freeze in the winter and sweat in the summer,” Drew recalls, so insulation became a priority. With the help of the nuns and other community members, the firm utilized rice straw, adobe, clay plaster, and reclaimed wood to craft Spanish hacienda– style buildings around a central courtyard. The result was a budget-friendly, comfortable living space that still allowed the nuns ample access to nature. The firm’s current residential project gets its clients even closer to the landscape—rather than hauling rocks off the homeowners’ property to build, Drew and his team are making a massive boulder a focal point of the house’s interior, adding a sleeping nook atop the rock. The surrounding walls consist of insulated concrete form, a virtually indestructible material made by mixing recycled Styrofoam with cement.
There’s no common thread that weaves through every Hubbell & Hubbell project, it’s true. But each building carries hints of the organic whimsy familiar to James Hubbell’s famous Hobbit houses, and this impulse—to invite the earth in; to prompt us to notice its power and beauty; to ask us all to coexist—may be what defines them.
TOP The use of rice straw ensured excellent insulation for the nuns of Deer Park Monastery. ABOVE The Hubbells’ mixed-use Friends Center was designed to showcase innovative green building techniques.
52 SEPTEMBER 2023
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