Sustainability Is the Way Forward
Peter Huf is the Chief Architect at Huf Haus. In this article, he shares about Huf Haus, sustainability, and his professional journey.
Huf Haus revolutionised the architecture industry in 1972 when it opened a premanufactured showhouse with a glazed façade framed by black timber posts and timber beams. Since then, Huf Haus has become a big name in the architecture world, leading the way with sustainable materials and methods of construction. In this exclusive interview, Peter Huf, Chief Architect at Huf Haus, tells us about the history of the company, where it’s going and his professional journey so far, as well as lessons learned.
The company is over 108 years old! Can you tell us how and why Johann Huf started HUF HAUS?
My grandfather Johann was a carpenter master and, when he met my grandmother, he decided to move his carpentry business to her village, Hartenfels, and start a sawmill there because she needed to stay in the village to tend to her sick parents. My grandfather and grandmother were determined to have their own business despite having little money and no start-up capital. My grandmother Maria was in charge of their small farm which was, at that time, their main source of income and crucial to generate capital for the business.
My dad, Franz Huf, took over the carpentry business from my grandfather, and with the help of my mother, who played a crucial role of support, he worked to grow the family business. He invested into the factory and built premanufactured, timber-framed houses. Their design was factory-led but, at the time, not architecturally groundbreaking. They were assembled in the factory and then de-assembled and built onsite.
During that time, he noticed the work of the accomplished architect Manfred Adams who had won awards for his “post & beam” architecture. Manfred Adams’s ideas were revolutionary at the time and inspired my Dad to replace his “traditional concept” with Adams’s “avant-garde post & beam architecture”. In 1972, without much support from his own sales team, my dad built the most revolutionary showhouse in the German market. At that time, no one in Germany had ever seen a premanufactured house where the entire facade was glazed and framed by black timber posts and timber beams.
A true contemporary post and beam house was born where the wall is replaced by generous glazing and where the wall is not load-bearing as in a normal timber-framed house. My dad established a strong relationship with the architect Manfred Adams, which was crucial to developing the Huf house and which lasted throughout their lifetime.
What’s next for the company?
Once a company has defined their product, it is very important to safeguard the signature style; in our case, the modern interpretation of the classic post and beam architecture. At the same time, to develop new ideas for the future. Any company with a long-term view must be continuously refining their product and addressing the challenges of the day. In my view, the most pressing issue currently is sustainability.
What does sustainability mean for you?
Sustainability is a broad topic. I firmly believe that everyone should be doing whatever they can, no matter what their job or where they are. We have a responsibility to leave the world a better place. As an architect, I am acutely aware of sustainability in construction and I’m proud that HUF HAUS is a market leader in this regard, but as a person I am also very conscious of trying to incorporate sustainability into my private, everyday life.
I believe sustainability starts as a mindset. When we embrace it in small ways in our personal life, we will find it easier and more natural to incorporate in our professional world.
What do you believe are the biggest deterrents at the moment stopping developers from building sustainable or even zero-carbon homes, and how to solve this issue?
Many developers pay a lot of lip service to the topic of sustainability, but there is an inertia across the industry that prevents real change from happening. Many of the contributing factors are practical or financial; for example, there is a skills gap, with many builders in the industry lacking the know-how to build sustainable houses.
However, I think that the more important factor is one of attitude: developers are often risk-averse, building the same houses they have done for years, and also tend to have a fairly short-term financial time horizon. I think the solution lies in developers recognising that building sustainably will actually create value in the long term, because a lot of the practical solutions to sustainable construction are already on the market.
What is one way an architect can be sustainable that is not wildly known?
People tend to focus on the sustainable technologies of a build, but can neglect the fact that the architect’s design concept needs to follow sustainable principles as well. For example, the design needs to demonstrate efficient use of internal space, minimising “dead” space.
The architect should work “with” the given topography and enhance its existing features. It’s all well and good to incorporate photovoltaic panels, but I’d like to see more architects maximising sunlight in their design through passive solar gain, or developing energy concepts based on local conditions. In my view, this is all part of sustainability.
Do you believe we will ever reach a zero-carbon property and construction industry?
I think we have no other choice. Eventually, the building industry as a whole will be forced into it. Maybe it will be through government legislation, or maybe it will happen because climate change has altered our environment to such an undeniable level that people are frightened out of complacency.
I’m convinced that we will reach a zero-carbon industry because we have to. And quite frankly, there is no excuse not to. We already have the technology to do it. Companies like HUF HAUS are building zero-carbon properties and have been doing so for years.
What are some common misconceptions surrounding sustainable building?
Many people believe that by adding some photovoltaic panels on the roof, they are building sustainably. While this is certainly a good move in the right direction, it is a far cry from a comprehensive solution. Other issues, like the impact of the chosen building material, the fabric efficiency of the outside walls, a no-draft environment, and good wall insulation values are all essential energy considerations.
Tell us a little bit about your career and how you got where you are today.
As a young man, I thought long and hard about what profession I would like to pursue. I had so many interests that I could hardly make up my mind. Being unsure of what I wanted to do after Abitur high school, I decided to follow the family tradition of learning the trade of carpentry and apprenticed in our family business. This early experience proved to be very valuable in later years.
Working with wood helped me understand the material and see it as a versatile building resource. After my two-year apprenticeship, I began my architectural studies at the Technical University of Koblenz. I was unsure, as many young people are, if this was indeed the right path for me, but by my second year, I realised that architecture was the perfect discipline to combine my many interests and I knew that I had chosen well.
After graduating with my German architectural degree, I worked in America, first as a draftsman in a larger office, and then started my own business as an architectural illustrator before being accepted into a master’s degree course at the State University of New York in Buffalo.
After completing my Masters in Architecture, I moved back to Germany and worked with Manfred Adams. Six years later, I was asked by HUF HAUS to work on a project in the United Kingdom. This award-winning project and the opportunities that followed were the reason I accepted HUF HAUS’s invitation to relocate to the UK with my family to design Huf houses. Twenty years and 250 houses later, I’m still in love with the British landscape and doing my part for sustainability in this country.
What are 3 lessons that you learned in your career?
An architect is exposed to many different challenges on many different levels. The design of a house, for example, needs to correspond with the plot, needs to be cost-effective and structurally sound, and needs to meet the expectations of the client as well as the planner. Managing these challenges without losing the main idea of the design is a key lesson I have learned throughout my career.
I have learned to embrace the hurdles that present themselves, and to use the obstacles presented as a key to unlock new ideas and new creative solutions.
I have also come to realise that just as many medical patients are not able to clearly describe their symptoms to a doctor, sometimes clients are unable to express their full aspirations or are unaware of the breadth of possibilities. A skill that I have had to develop is listening to what is not said and understanding those aspirations that are not verbalised. It is a joy then to hear a client exclaim that I have designed exactly what they wanted.
What would you say is the biggest achievement of your career?
I’m proud to have gained the trust of so many different clients and to have had the opportunity to work on so many beautiful sites. It is the sum of all these special projects that tells the real story, rather than any one single award-winning project. I am in the fortunate position to be able to say that I have helped transform many sites into beautiful, beloved spaces. I have brought real joy to hundreds of people.
What advice would you give for architects starting on their journey now?
Working hard in your degree is certainly an important part of your architectural education, but it is your experience that will truly train you. Honing your skill takes time. Just like when mastering an instrument, it requires patience and perseverance, but the effort is well worth it. In my view, being an architect is the best job imaginable.
What or who inspires you?
The list of people who have inspired me is too long to talk about, so I’d like to concentrate on what inspires me. I find inspiration and insights in nature, science and philosophy. I like to consider what beauty is and how and why human beings are drawn to it, knowing that there can never be a definitive answer.
I find it humbling the way the incredible patterns in nature put our human endeavours into perspective. Whenever I visit a site, it is the natural features of the plot that have the biggest influence on my design and are the source of my inspiration.
What are your next steps?
I think the best way to describe it is by using the analogy of playing the piano. In the beginning you invest many hours into practising the instrument. The longer you play, the more you enjoy playing and the music you create brings people joy. I intend to keep playing, eager to keep developing and growing, hoping to do my part to change the world – one house at a time.