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Peter Becker, AIA  The Historic Flying A Studio, a Green Home and Office

The office and home of Peter Becker, AIA, is the last intact building of the historic American Film Manufacturing Company, commonly known as the Flying A Studio. Built in 1913, occupying an entire city block, it was one of the largest movie studios in the world. The existing building that houses Peter Becker Architect had been the original actors' dressing and green rooms. Acquired in 1999, and designated as a City Historic Landmark, Peter began the process of restoring the building as much as possible to its former appearance while making it more livable, structurally sound, and environmentally-friendly.

The building already equipped with green attributes: plaster over brick veneer, south-facing windows for natural day-lighting, exposed concrete slab floor for thermal mass. A skylight which works as a passive solar cooling chimney when an adjacent attic access panel is opened up, allows hot air to escape through the roof vents. This draws cool air in through north-facing windows that open onto a narrow but lush, pergola-shaded garden, so no air-conditioning system is ever required. The building is a classic re-use of an existing structure.

Green improvements include: a 2.5 kilowatt photovoltaic array on the flat roof that supplies almost all electricity for both home and office; two fan coil forced-air units that work off a 40 gallon domestic water heater allowing a different zone for each function; compact fluorescent lamps, R-13 batts added wherever possible in the 2x4 framed walls and 4" thick rigid insulation with a reflective barrier placed under the roof; thermally insulated interior casements added to all south-facing windows, each composed of two layers of laminated glass with argon gas between and fully weather-stripped; low-flow toilet and shower; numerous trees planted for shade; a water-saving garden irrigation system.