I was introduced to the idea of a trellis shading houses from Brad Lancaster’s work and immediately became interested in implementing this strategy at my parents’ house to shade the house from the hot summer sun of the Eastern Washington shrub steppe. The south-facing rooms of the house get uncomfortably warm in summer, so a trellis supporting a healthy vine could reduce summer temperatures. I chose a hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguata) since it will produce edible fruit and can be a fire-wise landscaping choice next to a house if properly maintained. This project consists of a diagram depicting the ability of this design to reduce household temperatures as well as a construction detail that will provide guidance when this design is ultimately constructed and an exploded isometric showing the materials which come together to create the trellis.

Year: Autumn 2023

Class: L ARCH 432: Materials, Craft, and Construction

Info Sources: Brad Lancaster/Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands & Beyond, WSU Fire-Resistant Plants for Eastern Washington

Graphic Sources: KJPargeter/Freepik, Sutichak/Deposit Photos, kues1, Ahmad Hamdy (3D Screw), Pexels/Pixabay, Landscape Shoppe, Tara Winstead/Pexels, Freepik