Net-zero home, ‘sauna cube’ among innovative designs brought to Sioux Falls

If we’re being real, we should acknowledge that Sioux Falls isn’t exactly known for cutting-edge architecture.

Unless, that is, you’re talking to Robert Arlt.

This architect looks at the world a little differently. His specialty is low-energy, or even positive-energy, homes.

“Specifically, my training and what I taught at SDSU is something called a passive house,” he said. “That’s the certification that came out of Germany originally.”

Such houses use as little energy as possible to heat and cool.

Arlt’s work recently was honored by the American Institute of Architects South Dakota during its recent annual conference.

His design of an urban refill house just south of downtown won an honor award for architecture. It’s a net-zero-energy-ready home that took the place of a dilapidated former rental property.

“We wanted to take a very careful approach and make sure we did something that was compatible with the neighborhood,” co-owner Joe Batcheller said. “We definitely put a lot of time and thought and brought the neighbors into the process.”

The new home Arlt designed includes a front porch with W-flange steel columns to add to the variety of columns and blend with the historic nature of the neighborhood.

“It’s such a great way to interact with your neighbors, and in many ways it was indicative of a social outlet decades ago, and it’s been great to have,” said Batcheller, whose family moved into the home 18 months ago.

Contemporary slat detailing is used to screen views to the second-level deck yet frame views toward downtown.

Arlt “did a proportional study of the neighboring houses and how that facade fits in because it is in an infill project in that regard,” he said.

The family’s utility bills have dropped considerably since moving in, Batcheller said.

“We knew Robert was a fantastic architect and his thing is building energy-efficient homes, and this house is built with structurally insulated panels,” he said.

That allows for faster building, which helps offset the increased material cost, he added. The home also needs an air exchange system constantly circulating air and bringing outside air in “because it’s such an airtight structure you have to have that air exchange system,” Batcheller said.

The house even could be energy-positive if the family chooses to add solar panels on the roof, which they’re considering.

“I love it,” Batcheller said. “I’ve put less than 2,000 miles on my car in the last year and a half” by living on the edge of downtown.

The AIA judges called it “a highly thoughtful and well-executed project. … This project utilized its budget to the highest level, elevating humble materials through their intelligent use and smart detailing. The refined palette allows for the residents to be the focus. Obvious care and refinement from careful proportional study to vetted details. The use of color is impactful, while the street elevation is balanced as single composition amidst the neighboring residential context.”

Arlt also recently put his skills to work by designing a new outdoor addition for his own Sioux Falls home — and that was an award-winning project too.

Check out the Sauna Cube — an 8-by-8-by-8-foot sauna in five frames with a slice to create a skylight. It’s designed to capture early sun into the wood interior and views of a tree canopy in Arlt’s backyard.

That project was inspired by — what else — the pandemic.

Last summer, Arlt’s family spent time in “little off-the-grid cabins” in his native Minnesota, “and one of them was a wood-fired sauna, so we fired that up and really enjoyed that experience,” he said.

“We had talked about doing a garden shed for something experimental, and by the time you design a garden shed, it’s too nice for a wheelbarrow, so the sauna was kind of a perfect idea.”

It’s a simple form, he said, adapting a cube with a slice through it, “and it has this experimental skin on it that’s a black color, like a thick paint, but it’s vapor-open, so it allows water vapors from the sauna to breathe out fairly quickly.”

The judges, who awarded it a merit award in architecture, called it “an elegant solution for a single room. … Its construction is straightforward and honest, exhibiting restraint and keeping true to the concept without being overworked.”

But here’s the only bummer behind this story.

Arlt is moving to Seattle, where he has taken a job with a firm that specializes in modern high-performance home design. He’s wrapping up a couple of projects locally and said there is demand here for other architects considering the niche.

“I think there is a market for it,” he said. “There are other builders that are moving toward design-forward. I taught and tried to position myself for however small of a market there is … but I’ve always had one or two houses and projects that check those boxes to varying degrees. I think the biggest thing is people knowing it exists.”