Reclaimed Space: Sustainable, Modern
Honorable Mention for Reclamation of Materials, Building—Professional Built
This modern, sustainable designed home values reclaimed materials that are the product of disassembly. The average home generates 8,000 pounds of waste, 80% of which is recyclable while Reclaimed Space homes create less than 300 pounds of waste, nearly all of which is recycled. These energy sipping homes feature solar and rain catchment systems, recycled newspaper insulation and reclaimed 100-year old hardwood oak flooring.
View the full project description and photos.
About the Entrants
Reclaimed Space, Austin, TX
Kimber Reed-Barber
Growing up in Austin, Texas, Kimber Reed-Barber has always had a forward-thinking, independent approach to life.
It was from her parents, who were teachers and antique furniture dealers that Kimber learned the value of antique wood and the beauty it holds. Watching and helping her parents find and restore old items into gorgeous antiques, Kimber began to understand how through creativity and work, things can be fixed up and made beautiful again for people to enjoy.
Kimber was the valedictorian of her high school and graduated from the esteemed Plan II Pre-Med Honors program from the University of Texas. Kimber has always had an eye for design, and she started designing professionally after college. At 23, she began rehabbing and remodeling old homes and remembered the joy she received from renewing an area and recreating it into something beautiful.
Kimber has since become an expert in landscape and interior design and management. She is also a student and strong believer in the practice of feng shui in her designs. Kimber’s forte is in open, user-friendly floorplans and creative uses of materials, textures and color to create a modern, rustic feel.
In 2007, Tracen Gardener approached Kimber to consult in his idea to design a cabin for remote living, built from reclaimed materials. Kimber took the idea and ran with it, not only designing the first Space, but also cofounding the company that is now known as Reclaimed Space.
Tracen Gardner
It was while growing up on his family’s 2,000-acre working cattle ranch in Central Texas that Tracen Gardner learned his appreciation for land. From an early age, Tracen was taught the importance of understanding the earth and the land he was raised on. Caring for and tending to his land and prized show animals was how Tracen developed his keen sense and awareness for the concept of sustainability.
Tracen’s high school years were spent at the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where the concept of sustainability and earth sciences were major focuses. Tracen went back to Texas to attend the University of Texas at Austin.
After 2 years at UT without a clear direction and the passing of his grandmother, Tracen decided to hitchhike across the country. It was during these travels from Maine to Los Angeles and on to Hawaii that Tracen discovered the type of person he wanted to become.
After spending 8 months living in Maui, Tracen decided he was ready to head home and finish college, fulfilling a promise he had made to his grandmother.
Paying the rest of his way through the remainder of college by starting a painting company, Tracen graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Environmental Resouce Management.
In 1999, Tracen founded Dirtco Construction, an Austin-based construction company specializing in site work and hardscapes. Through Dirtco, Tracen helped develop and beautify many homes and ranches, all while utilizing the sustainable practices he had learned growing up.
After years of searching for the perfect location, Tracen finally acquired his own ranch; a remote piece of acreage near Shiner, Texas. It was the land’s lack of homestead, its distance from the city and lack of utilities that was the inspiration to create a drop-ready home that he could build in Austin and ship to his ranch.
After bringing in designer Kimber Reed-Barber as a consultant and realizing the need for simple, relocatable, sustainable living structures, Reclaimed Space was born.