Mid-century grain silo transformed into a gorgeous, affordable home

Feb 19, 2015 by Casey Coates Danson

The corrugated steel shell was painted white to reflect the heat of the desert sun and to evoke the character of historic American rural architecture.

Kaiser purchased the dismantled 1955 grain silo online from a Kansas farmer that was then transported down to Arizona on the back of a pickup truck. Major modifications were made during the reassembly process for the silo, ailment such as the addition of custom-made doors and windows, store as well as the ten inches of spray foam insulation inserted between the silo walls and house interior. The corrugated steel shell was painted white to reflect the heat of the desert sun and to evoke the character of historic American rural architecture.

Rather than create a standard square living space, here Kaiser challenged himself to design a curved wood-and-black-steel interior that conformed to the silo’s circular form. The young architect kept costs low by using $350 worth of scrap walnut plank flooring purchased from Craigslist as the main interior wood material and by custom designing almost all of the interior furnishings—save for a set of Eames Wire Chairs. A spiral staircase leads up to a cozy loft bedroom that’s bathed in natural light from an operable skylight located at the top of the silo.

+ Christoph Kaiser

Via WAN, Dwell

Images via Christoph Kaiser