Who Builds on Boca Chica Island? Meet AJ
Meet AJ, Founder of Forsite Studio, an architectural firm located in Austin, TX. AJ is designing a home, dock, and palapa for one of the owners on the island.
From an architectural and building point of view, what are the pros of the island?
The Island presents a very unique opportunity. You can have a house surrounded by dense jungle, huge old trees, hanging vines, and rich lush foliage but because of the long narrow shape of the island and the main ridge that runs down its length it creates the potential to capture incredible views.
Through careful planning and selective clearing you can expose breathtaking views of the ocean, surrounding islands, and even the mountain miles away.
With a little imagination you can have a home nestled in the incredible biodiversity of the island but at the same time dwarfed by the vast expansive landscape that surrounds it.
What materials do you think will be best for people to build with on the island?
The materiality is certainly dependent on what the client is looking for, but there are two approaches to providing the most efficient use of resources.
The most cost effective option would be to draw materials from the local building practices and skills of the labor pool, which would include concrete, cinder block, wood poles, tile, metal and palm roofing, etc. This would also provide an aesthetic which is consistent with the local vernacular.
For clients who would like to have a more modern building design that may include building materials not typically used in the area, we would need to be a bit more creative in our approach.
The challenge and cost of bringing outside materials into the country and onto the island could be offset by creating prefabricated or modular structures. In this way the time needed to train the local labor force could be minimized, as well as the total time for construction.
What do you think the challenges for building on the island will be and how would you address them?
The most important challenge will be access. Without any roads to the island or on it, all of the materials and personnel must be brought to the site by boat and then offloaded by hand to the job site.
Careful consideration when ordering and staging materials can help reduce wasted time and expense.
The lack of heavy machinery is also a challenge. Most if not all dirt work will be done by hand, and concrete is limited to what can be produced in a small mixer.
Large framing members will need to be moved and set solely by manpower, without the help of booms or cranes.
These are all things that will be considered during the design process and prepared for during construction.
What difficulties are posted by having no electricity on the island?
There are certainly limitations with living off-grid, but with careful planning and an understanding of the local environment, any potential problems can be mitigated.
The efficiency and dependability of the system is reliant on the climate, the efficiency of the buildings, the power consumption of residents, and a well designed backup system.
In this case, the climate of the region lends itself extremely well to off-grid living. Local weather patterns are fairly predictable, with average temperatures ranging from the mid 70s to high 80s, which means energy needs should be minimal while solar power collection should be very efficient.
Through the use of passive design strategies, the buildings can capitalize on the beautiful weather and use it to their advantage to ultimately reduce power consumption. Orienting operable windows and doors towards prevailing breezes, and minimizing sun exposure in the warmer months are just a couple of examples of how you can greatly increase the efficiency of the home without added cost.
If properly designed, a home can function on very little power throughout the year.
But it is also up to the residents to be energy conscious in order for the system to work at maximum efficiency and dependability. A lot of people have grown up in situations where the only concern about electricity is how much the bill would be from month to month, and power outages were very rare.
In an off-grid scenario you have to be much more vigilant in conserving power. Leaving lights on through the night could mean less (or no) available power in the morning. It is of course possible to counterbalance this issue with redundant backup systems.
Having both batteries and generators can help maintain a consistent power supply, but adding more components greatly increases the cost of the system and the required maintenance.
For an off-grid system to function optimally, especially on a remote island, simplicity and conservation are key.
What jumps out at you about the area and this island?
Access to nature. It is an area that still seems wild and untouched.
It’s incredible that it feels completely remote and isolated yet you still have full cell phone coverage giving you the option to be as connected with the modern world as you desire.
Just a few of the things that really stand out are the incredible views, being on the water and the proximity to fishing, surfing, diving, and other remote islands and beaches.
To get in touch with AJ
Visit his website at http://forsitestudio.com/.
