John Lambie, a builder of many of the Sarasota School of Architecture designed homes was revolutionary with his "Lambolithic Construction" - a solid poured concrete wall and roof system with re-usable forms. His reinforced poured concrete made with 5 sizes of sand for added strength which allowed for stronger, thinner walls and roofs. Even more amazing was his roof top pool system for cooling using rubber-lined shallow pools filled with sand and water that would naturally cool the home to a comfortable 79 degrees through an evaporative cooling process. This architect's use of broad overheads to block the direct sunlight (thermal heat gain) in the warm Florida months, plus strategically placed jalousie widows for cross breezes meant that passive cooling could be attained without the need for modern air conditioning (which was not commonplace in mid-century Sarasota homes). The Revere Quality House (Rudolph and Twitchell) located at 100 Ogden St., on Siesta Key, is one such example of this, which kick started the Sarasota School of Architecture movement and notoriety. It was featured in journals Architectural Forum (1948), Architectural Review (1948), and Home and Garden (1949) as one of Revere Copper's nationwide winners of their contest to showcase innovative and affordable homes in the post World War II boom. Of course, Revere Cooper was to be incorporated in the home somehow, and in this case a copper fireplace hood became part of this historic design. Much of Lambie's work is still standing on Siesta Key, and the mainland but the addition of modern HVAC systems has replaced the ingenious passive cooling. Lambie built many of these homes without a named Architect, but they are considered part of the Sarasota School cannon of work.
