Big Dig House
Big Dig House, building in Lexington, Massachusetts, that was made from recycled materials used in the Big Dig infrastructure project in Boston. The Big Dig House was completed in 2006.
The Central Artery/Tunnel Project, commonly called the Big Dig, replaced the 1950s elevated expressway through Boston with an underground road system. Though the project was first conceived in the 1970s, planning for it did not officially begin until 1982, and construction lasted from 1991 until the project’s completion in 2007. The Big Dig became notorious for spiraling costs, massive underestimation of construction time, substandard materials, and demands by the state’s attorney general for contractors to refund millions to taxpayers for shoddy work, all followed by the death of a motorist and criminal prosecutions.
Its silver lining is the Big Dig House, a residential home created from the remains of the redundant solid engineering. It used 300 tons of rubble—mainly steel and concrete—from the Big Dig demolition. As is demonstrated by the reduction of the interior walls to one floor, the structural integrity of the house is such that its roof could withstand the weight of an 18-wheel truck, or 250 pounds per square foot (12 kilopascals).
The design was conceptualized by structural engineer Paul Pedini, who also acted as contractor for Single Speed Design, which was led by principal architects John Hong and Jinhee Park. Construction time was decreased by using larger rescued parts—ramps, piers, and Inverset panels—as found, which allowed the frame to go up in under three days. The Inverset panels—made of prefabricated reinforced concrete 10 feet (3 meters) wide and of variable lengths—were interim build features used for temporary site ramps and roads. Rather than send them to a landfill, Pedini used them as a building component. Other features of the house, which is 4,000 square feet (372 square meters), include a rooftop garden and an exterior of mostly glass and cedar siding. It cost $645,000 exclusive of land.