Thanks to the one-size-fits-all truss design, homes of different sizes varied mostly in length and interior floor plan. The simple foundations consist of two parallel glulam beams fastened to pressure-treated timber cribbing on pads of native river gravel.
Blocking between trusses took the place of a conventional bottom plate; a 3/8-inch plywood skin beneath the bottom chords of the open-web floor assemblies served as backing for a thick layer of polyurethane spray foam. An open space between the upper surface of the foam and the subfloor above provided an unobstructed and frostproof plumbing chase.
All nine of the new homes, completed in the rapidly shortening days marking the approach of an Alaskan winter, feature air-lock entries and R-60 thermal envelopes.
