a contemporary cabin within the mountains
Overlooking the beautiful, panoramic peaks of the American West, the ‘Home at 9,000 Toes’ designed by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects is a novel instance of contemporary mountain structure. The cabin is misplaced inside the peaks of the Intermountain Area — an space spanning Utah, Nevada, western Wyoming, southern Idaho — and is perched at a wide ranging elevation of 9,000 ft above sea degree. The house takes form as a 100-foot-long extruded ellipse to create a curving construction elevated above the snow, all completed with crimson cedar alongside each its interiors and exterior. Thus, the dwelling exemplifies how structure can reply to excessive website situations and local weather whereas harmonizing with its context.
pictures © Nic Lehoux | @nic.lehoux
mackay-lyons sweetapple takes on an excessive local weather
Designing its Home at 9,000 Toes, the workforce at MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects notes its difficult website, with a steep thirty-percent slope and an annual snowfall of forty ft. To deal with these situations, the architects devised a technique of ‘floating’ the constructing atop an array of stilts and offering entry by means of a perforated metal footbridge. This progressive strategy not solely permits the home to sit down gracefully on the location, but additionally supplies uninterrupted views throughout the valley beneath and the mountaintops past. After all, elevating the house additional helps to mitigate the impression of snow accumulation through the lengthy winter season.
The arid, excessive desert local weather of the area posed additional challenges for MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects — notably with warmth achieve, which may be excessive even through the winter because the low solar displays off the snow. What’s extra, this location is understood for having a number of the highest wind masses within the nation. In response, the architects developed a holistic design strategy that prioritizes each type and performance, integrating passive photo voltaic methods and wind-resistant options into the design of the home.
responding to excessive snowfall, the constructing ‘floats’ atop an array of stilts
inside the home at 9,000 ft
The Home at 9,000 Toes opens up with 4,400 sq. ft of inside house, which incorporates 5 bedrooms, a storage, and mechanical house. Guests arrive above the home from the street, and are instantly greeted with panoramic views of the mountains past as they appear over the roof. Pedestrians and automobiles alike entry the home by means of the light-weight perforated metal bridge, which provides a component of modernity to the country mountain setting.
Upon getting into the home, a clear stair is illuminated by a skylight above, enhancing the sensation of openness and reference to the setting. From the low lobby, guests are led into an awesome room, which includes a excessive, curved cedar ceiling that provides heat and texture to the house. The south aspect of the home provides an uninterrupted 88-foot-long window seat, offering not solely a snug place to calm down, but additionally serving as a passive photo voltaic design characteristic that successfully controls photo voltaic warmth achieve whereas framing the breathtaking southern views.
a coated deck frames views towards the valley and mountains past
On the western finish of the home, MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects introduces a coated deck to offer the proper vantage level for having fun with views from the residing house towards the valley and mountains past. In the meantime, the main bedroom and media room are thoughtfully positioned on the japanese finish of the home, making certain privateness and calm. On the single board type concrete ‘core’ of the home, 4 visitor bedrooms are organized throughout two ranges. The bottom degree of the home even provides ski-in/ski-out — a luxurious which all skiers dream of. The home is a wide ranging instance of contemporary mountain structure that harnesses passive photo voltaic options and wind-resistant parts to withstands the acute website situations and local weather of its location.
an elongated array of full-height home windows opens out to the sweeping mountains
interiors are completed with crimson cedar
