海拔 9000 英尺处的房屋丨美国丨MacKayLyons Sweetapple Architects

Architects:MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects

Area:511m²

Year:2022

Photographs:Nic Lehoux

Design Lead:Brian Mackay-Lyons

Project Manager:Matthew Bishop

Project Team:Izak Bridgman, Alastair Bird, Isaac Fresia, Ben Fuglevand, Sawa Rostkowska, Diana Carl, Jesse Martyn, Lucas McDowell, Jennifer Esposito

Structural:Blackwell Structural Engineers

Mechanical:Harris Dudley Co

Electrical:BNA Consulting

Civil:Talisman Civil Consultants

Geotech:Intermountain Geoenvironmental Services Inc

Contractor:Edge Builders

Country:United States

Text description provided by the architects. Located in the Intermountain Region of the United States, the house is perched on a mountaintop at 9000 feet above sea level. The project was developed in response to its extreme site conditions and climate. A 30 percent slope across the site combined with an annual snowfall of 40 feet, resulted in a strategy of ‘floating’ the building on stilts and accessing it via a bridge.

Southern exposure provided spectacular views of the valley below and nearby mountaintops, as well as a passive solar strategy. The arid, high desert climate presented challenges with heat gain, especially in the winter with the low sun reflecting off the snow. The location also has some of the highest wind loads in the United States.

The five-bedroom ski house consists of 4400 square feet of inhabited space plus a garage and mechanical space. One arrives above the house from the road, looking over the roof to the mountains beyond Both pedestrians and vehicles access the house by a perforated steel bridge. Upon entering, one descends a transparent stair lit by a skylight above. From a low foyer, one enters the monumental great room with a high, curved cedar ceiling.

The south side of the house offers a continuous 88-foot-long window seat, which passively controls solar heat gain and frames the spectacular southern views. At the western end of the house, a covered deck provides sunset views toward the valley below. The best bedroom and media room occupy the east end of the house. The single board form concrete ‘core’ contains four guest bedrooms across two levels. The ground level offers a ski-in/ski-out amenity.

Formally, the house is a 100-foot-long extruded ellipse clad with red cedar both inside and out (liner and rainscreen). Except for the concrete ‘core’, this is a steel-framed bridge-like structure, supported by steel columns. Given the site access constraints, the amount of concrete was kept to a minimum. A 24-foot-long soapstone hearth-kitchen island anchors the great room. The flooring and millwork throughout the house are clear white ash. The environmental ethic that drives this minimalist project is to “touch the land lightly.”

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