H-Form is the latest architectural wonder

Throughout history, mankind has built walls for protection and to create territories. From the Walls of Troy to the Great Wall of China, including the Berlin Wall, these barriers were built from natural sources: earth, wood, stone, adobe bricks and, more lately, concrete blocks.

What they had in common was the extensive amount of labor and cost that went into their construction. The Great Wall of China, for example, took more than 2,000 years to complete.

Fortunately, today’s technology has produced better methods of making walls for the homeowner who wants a realistic balance between cost and effort. One such system is H-Forms.

H-Forms, created by Napa architect David Horobin, features the use of large, hollow blocks made of expanded polystyrene that interconnect like Lego pieces to form the desired shape of the landscape wall.

Supported with reinforcing bars and filled with concrete, the result is a structurally sound wall that is insulated with a vapor barrier ready to accept the final exterior finishes.

According to Horobin, some of the major benefits of the H-Forms system include significant savings in cost over the use of standard concrete blocks along with a much faster construction time. Walls can be designed and built in a variety of shapes and heights with flexibility in the finished texture, color and style desired.

Horobin grew up and was educated in England, becoming a licensed member of The Royal Institute of British Architects.

He comes from a philosophy of “sustainability,” which emphasizes a close balance between functionality and resource-efficiency.

“I’m inspired by those who do a good job for this planet and future generations by using the natural energy and other resources that are available,” he said. “I believe that building design professionals have that responsibility.”

He became interested in the use of insulated concrete forms (ICFs) first introduced in Germany and secured the rights to use this technology in 1985.

Later, he developed two ICF systems of his own. He has successfully designed homes that do not require cooling equipment and, more than 30 years ago, built a home in Palo Alto that used solar energy to produce excess electricity that was sold back to a utility company. This “Zero Energy” home was perhaps the first of its kind in California, he said.

After Horobin lost his home in the Los Gatos fire of 1985, he built his current home in Napa from ICFs that he said afforded protection from the elements and a durability not found using ordinary construction methods.

“It will last and sustain the elements, including fire. A concrete home isn’t going anywhere,” he said.

Horobin’s current focus is to provide his H-Forms technology to produce a speedy and cost-effective way to build landscape walls. He recently established a relationship with Clark’s Rock in American Canyon, where he has built full scale examples of walls ranging from basic to those with more elaborate designs. This special area is now open to the public for viewing.

Clark’s Rock owner, Howard Peterson, and his staff know the H-Forms system and show how it can be used to satisfy a homeowner’s desire for landscape walls. Graniterock dealers in the Bay Area also are distributors for H-Forms systems.

To make the H-Forms system easy to install, Clark’s Rock and Graniterock will provide a list of local professionals who can be called upon to design and install these walls.

These could include: structural engineers, landscaping designers and building contractors. The “package” would also include stucco, water proofing, decorative foam shapes and any rock, stone and related materials needed to finish the job.

Residential customers have also used this system to build sound walls, privacy walls, retaining walls, fences, planters and walls for backyard lap-pools.

Horobin says use of the lightweight H-Forms has another benefit: “Often, you can put all the materials for an entire wall on one truck for delivery to the user. You can’t say that about the Great Wall of China.”

Source: LARRY R. FIORI, Napa Valley Register