Transnational Couple’s Modern, Net Zero “Dream House” to be Featured on Fall 2023 Modapalooza Tour

THE REDDY-YU RESIDENCE NEARING COMPLETION. 
A LARGE SCREENED PORCH EXTENDS THE LIVING SPACE INTO THE OUTDOORS.

(Press Release) — When transnational couple Satish Reddy (India) and Ping Yu (China) decided to relocate from California and Texas to Chapel Hill, NC, they dreamed of building their own custom-designed, net zero house to reduce their new home’s carbon footprint and environmental impact. To make this dream come true, they turned to Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA, the award-winning, Chapel Hill-based architect whose residential design portfolio is defined by modern, net zero/net positive passive homes.

On Saturday, September 9, the recently completed Reddy-Yu Residence will be featured on the Fall 2023 Modapalooza Tour, the annual fall tour of modernist houses throughout the Triangle region organized by NCModernist, a North Carolina 501C3 nonprofit educational archive for the documentation, preservation, and promotion of Modernist houses from the mid-20th century to today.

THE REDDY-YU RESIDENCE, MAIN ENTRANCE, TWO-CAR GARAGE

Passive & Active Strategies: Like all of Schechter’s custom-designed net-zero houses, Reddy-Yu’s design is dependent upon various “passive” strategies, most notably a tight, leak-free building envelope, the barrier between indoors and outdoors encompassing the walls, windows, doors, and roof. Continuous high R-value insulation and triple-glazed, passive-house-suitable windows and exterior doors are vital elements of any net zero house, including this one.

The high-performance exterior walls are clad in gray fiber cement panels with wood accents providing warm visual and textural contrast.

A solar array on the butterfly roof and backup batteries in the garage supply the “active” technology needed to produce all the energy required to meet net-zero status — to produce as much energy as the house uses.

Water conservation: Schechter also designed the house to collect rainwater for irrigating vegetable gardens the homeowners plan to install later this year.

Aromatic Kitchen Culture: “Satish and Ping are both gourmet cooks, so the kitchen is a room of great importance to them,” Schechter noted. “Their kitchen will produce multiple cuisines: Chinese, Indian, and more.”

Because the two often cook fragrant foods at very high temperatures, their architect needed to find a way to isolate the cooking aromas from the rest of the house.  To that end, she made sure the kitchen could be completely closed off when necessary.  

Passages: An abundance of windows and sliding glass doors provide a strong connectivity to the outdoors.  On the northern elevation, a screened porch and deck structure, under the protection of a broad roof, extends the living space into the backyard.

Between the public spaces that Satish and Ping share with family and friends and the primary bedroom suite is a small “bridge” that provides a clear transition to their private “quiet zone.”

Arielle Schechter will be in the Reddy-Yu residence during the tour to speak with participants and answer any questions. For more information on the architect and her work, CLICK HERE.

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According to George Smart, founder and CEO of NCModernist/USModernist, the 2023 Fall Modapalooza Tour is sold out. However, a waiting list is available by clicking HERE. For more information on the Tour, including photos of all seven houses included, CLICK HERE.