모던하우스의 지향점은 자연에 접한 여러 건축들과 다르지 않다. 주변 자연환경과의 조화, 외부환경의 적극적인 내부 유입 등 주어진 조건들을 충분히 공간에 담고자 노력한다. 여기 마운틴 모던 하우스 또한 장중한 랜드스케이프를 따라 수평성이 강조된 디자인과 자연훼손을 최소한으로 유지하는 건축환경을 진행한다. 이를 위해 주변산세와 나란히 평행하게 연속되는 건축공간을 구성한다. 퍼블릭 룸, 스터디룸, 그리고 서측의 아름다운 풍경을 향해 열려 있는 마스터룸을 연속적으로 배치한다. (게스트룸은 마스터룸의 반대방향, 동측에 배치한다.) 이와 맞은편에 자리한 갤러리는 건물의 우측에 설치된 스톤벽과 평행하게 설치된다. 내부 벽, 바닥, 천장은 블랙월넛으로 마감되며, 외부는 지역에서 생산되는 샌드스톤과 스토코트로 마감된다.
reviewed by SJ, 오사
America has many spectacular sites but this property is unique among them. The site is located at an elevation of 9,200 feet and had already been excavated for a discontinued residential project. Our normal preoccupation with not impacting the landscape reverted here to rehabilitating and reforesting the uprooted site.
This was not a situation where capturing the landscape was the challenge but providing a major sustainable architecture in such a fragile but challenging environment. The landscape itself is so dominant, spectacular, and immediate, with its alpine vistas on the horizon the design called for an architecture that moved the scale of the exterior into the interior.
The design evolved by following the longitudinal parallel of the crest of the mountain, with the public rooms, study, and master bedroom oriented west toward dramatic views. The guest bedrooms have an eastern orientation with views of the receding mountain ranges. The house is two hundred forty feet long, bisected down its length by a twelve-foot stone wall of moss rock.
Entering the house, the major rooms are on the left, accessible by a gallery parallel to the wall, on the right. This area is entirely free of columns, structured in long spans by a folded plate design with ceiling heights starting at twelve feet and ascending to thirty feet. The floors, walls, and ceilings are clad in black walnut, and the exterior of local sandstone and stucco.
The house’s energy sources are seventy-two geo-thermal wells and a generator, meaning that it can virtually function independent of outside support services. The wells heat the driveways, pool, and house during the coldest winter months and cools during the summer without depleting any fossil fuels.
from contemporist