MICHAEL FRERKING arises daily intending to improve the world, and in his five decades of creating sustainable architectural structures, he has done just that.
After graduating from ASU in 1973 he took a road trip to the Pacific Northwest, and was appalled by the forest clear-cutting practices. Studying alternatives to wood construction, he focused on earthen buildings, and became an apprentice to Prescott’s first architect, George Allen, who was designing the Grieve residence at the time. Michael acted as draftsman and consultant on the project, which was later featured in Arizona Highways as the first passive and active solar home in Arizona.
Michael recognized early in his career that quality architecture, designed to meet both a specified budget and high sustainable-building standards, is only as good as one’s knowledge of sustainable construction, so he chose to work in construction for a year before apprenticing with George Allen.
Challenge, and solution
At the outset his challenge was how to make high-quality, high-mass, passive-solar homes affordable.
In 1982 Michael began Living Systems, a practice dedicated to designing and building energy-efficient, high-mass, passive-solar homes. After using adobe for ten years, he evolved to rammed-earth structures for another decade, but to be more widely accepted, Michael knew that there had to be a simpler way to construct earthen buildings.
Because walls make up 20% of the building cost of a home, eliminating the use of traditionally heavy and expensive forming systems was paramount. In 2015, with the help of Mike Gray, he developed an even more innovative and affordable process for the forming of earth-friendly soil-cement material called Form Free™ Building Systems. This approach to the design/build of sustainable, high-mass homes eliminates the use of heavy, labor-intensive and expensive forms. Instead this groundbreaking system makes use of internal space frames constructed of lightweight wire mesh. And his invention of Poured Earth, a soil-cement technology that creates high-mass earthen walls with a much lower environmental impact than its conventional predecessor, made this possible.
The internal forming system is composed of lightweight, easy-to-construct, repeatable building components that are most efficiently fabricated onsite, called wire-cell assemblies. Internal walls are wood frame. You can see construction details and videos at formfreebuilding.com.
Poured Earth requires skilled labor and can be built in a fraction of the time that conventional form-based methods require, creating a significant savings by reducing labor costs. The poured earth is intentionally created with texture to further define the structure, and stained when complete, requiring no further protection from the elements.
The Tengdin residence, Chino Valley
On a recent visit to Michael’s current project, a 2,300 square-foot home on seven acres, the details are unprecedented. External light-reflecting roof decks direct diffused light through windows on the south side of the structure for a well-lit home no matter what the season. The homes are built to European standards, which are 15-20 years ahead of the current US building-code energy standards, making the home a near net zero energy consumer. Once photovoltaics are added it becomes a potentially off-the-grid home. Six-inch-thick, structurally engineered snap-lock panels, in addition to 3.5” spray foam centers, make for an R-52 ceiling.
The team
“Like any relationship, if you don’t work at it it doesn’t thrive,” comments Michael, and his relationships with his crew members attest to that. Construction lead Matt Clem left a life in Walmart management after a health crisis, to find his soul satisfied in working with Michael on multiple projects. “I’m a free thinker, I like working on things that are unusual. I get bored easily, and this work keeps me engaged,” he says. Journeyman Robert Bruce and apprentice Jay Weeks round out the crew, along with construction lead Dennis Arms. All find themselves truly valuing the experience of working on a project unlike any others. They are learning the trade and applying it daily.
“I’m excited to learn to do something no one else I know has done,” says Weeks. Once the Tengdin residence is complete, Michael will turn over the construction end of his Form Free walls to the crew, who are now certified to fabricate and erect them.
Local structures
Michael and his artist wife Joann completed their first adobe home in Chino Valley in 1978. Other recognizable local structures include The Gathering Circle at the Highlands Center and Dr. Mark Hayden’s’ Prescott Dentistry building at 350 Whipple, in addition to several notable Prescott homes.
Michael is well regarded nationally and internationally as one of the leading architects in the field of high-mass earthen design and construction. Acting today as both architect and builder, Michael provides quality, creative architectural services that promise to meet the client’s budget and aesthetic desires. His websites formfreebuilding.com and livingsystemsarchitecture.com provide details and contact information.
