About the Showhouse

ecofabulous was invited to design the interior of the ‘Harbinger’ showhouse at West Coast Green 2008, the nation’s largest green building, business, and design conference. Made out of reused shipping containers, the 1700 sq. ft, two-story showhouse was designed by architects at The Lawrence Group and built by SG BLOCKS™. The home was displayed on the tradeshow floor at the San Jose Convention Center, September 25-27, 2008.

ecofabulous Founder and Executive Editor Zem Joaquin created the design aesthetic in partnership with Will Wick of Wick Design Group. For this project, she worked with more than 20 manufacturers of eco-products to present a home that was beautiful, inviting, and incredibly environmentally friendly. Every aspect of the home was evaluated based on its building materials and energy efficient design, and it received Green Point and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

The house, surrounded by a low-maintenance garden of native and naturalized plants, was truly the center piece of the entire conference. In fact, there was never a moment without a line of people wrapped around the house eagerly waiting to get in! West Coast Green estimates that nearly 10,000 visitors viewed the interior of the house over the course of the three-day conference. We want to share this project with you, and to show you some of the exciting sustainable design products that we used to create this truly ecofabulous home!

ecofabulous thanks its many partners and sponsors for the show house interior. We have created a resource here (LINK) with a list of companies who made the products we chose for the house.

West Coast Green Showhouse Designers

Zem Joaquin

A former contributing editor at House and Garden and Domino Magazines, ecofabulous founder and editor-in-chief Zem Joaquin is 7×7 Magazine’s Queen of Green and KFOG’s Eco-Expert. Mentored by William McDonough, Zem is a certified BuildItGreen design and strategy consultant and Cradle to Cradle enthusiast who helps companies and individuals create beautiful, smart, sustainable spaces and practices. Zem is the eco-luxury specialist for Planet Green’s Alter Eco and regularly contributes to various media. Much of her penchant for superior design came from her years at Splendora.com and living in Milan, Paris and London, but her love for the earth can be traced back to her early upbringing on a Palo Alto commune. As the mother of two children, Zem is committed to improving all families’ health, education and access to well-vetted information. To that end, she sits on the boards of Healthy Child, Healthy World, Global Green, and Teens for Safe Cosmetics.

Will Wick

Inspired by the Brazilian modernist styles of Oscar Niemeyer, the timeless designs of Italian Gio Ponti, and the classic, bold work of Francis Elkins, Will Wick launched his firm, Wick Design Group, three years ago debuting his unique style in the full renovation of a Pre-War apartment in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood. Garnering several years of experience working for Bay Area designers Madeline Speer and Michael Merrill, Will has begun to leave his own mark on San Francisco style with successes at the 2004 San Francisco Decorator’s Showcase and several residences and retail boutiques. Will was recently named one of Decorating’s “Hot New Stars” in the October 2005 issue of House Beautiful.

Rebecca Radtke
Radtke began her career in 1995 as a Project Manager at a San Francisco Herman Miller Dealership. With a hands-on approach, she managed multiple large-scale projects and gained valuable field experience working with architects, contractors, and various tradespeople. As an Account Manager, Rebecca helped the biotech giant Genentech secure a multi-million dollar furniture-buying agreement. Rebecca continued managing complex reconfiguration and new furniture projects for corporate clients such as Visa and Barclays Global Investors, while also working on high profile design-oriented projects including the de Young Museum. From preliminary budgets through post-project follow up, Rebecca brings superior quality to all of the services she provides.

Caitlin Bristol

An Oregon native, Caitlin Bristol focuses on developing spaces that seamlessly integrate the built environment with nature. With an extensive background in residential design, she is less concerned with the latest trends and prefers to ask her clients the question, “How do you live?” She received her BA from Santa Clara University while managing a design showroom in Palo Alto. After working on the retail side for several years, she transitioned into the custom home industry. She is currently completing a graduate program in Sustainable Design at UC Berkeley’s extension campus in San Francisco. She grew up spending summers in her mother’s native Australia, where she had the dubious distinction of being bitten by a wild dingo. She has traveled to over twenty countries and volunteered in India and Africa, where she found herself rooming with monkeys, cockroaches, bats and jumping spiders. Despite (or maybe because of) those experiences, her travels instilled a deep appreciation of nature’s beautifully efficient, waste-free, regenerative cycles. Nature is her inspiration and biomimicry her model as she creates interiors that meld sustainability with high design. It’s no surprise that her personal style blends globe-trotting eclecticism with city-girl chic. In her spare time Caitlin indulges her passion for black and white photography and home-made fig ice cream. You can also find her browsing local flea markets for vintage furniture and one-of-a-kind pieces crying out for a DIY makeover.

Emily Dobbins

Dobbs, who has had a heightened awareness of the built environment and of interiors since she was young, seeks to save the world through the vehicle of interior design. Beginning her formal career as a design consultant at Ethan Allen, Dobbs’ work can be seen in residences all over the Bay Area as well as in various commercial locations, including Scott Cole & Associates in Oakland and the ZaZa Nail Spa chain locations of Northern California. Her educational background in liberal arts, Interior Design, and Sustainable Design, as well as influences from her childhood in Japan inspire Dobbs’ interdisciplinary approach to design. As a passionate proponent of the sustainability movement, she seeks to create highly sustainable spaces that meld green technologies and ecologically-inspired design, but are still beautiful, functional and reflective of their inhabitants.