Tuesday, March 30, 2010

emigration canyon residence



Last October while exploring Emigration Canyon, I randomly came upon this home and was blown away by its stark simplicity and beauty. I took some pictures and attempted unsuccessfully to discover online who had designed it. Several months later, the home, which had just recently been completed, won a 2009 Merit Award from the AIA Utah. The architect is Sparano + Mooney Architecture located here in Salt Lake City.

From the description portion of the website,
"Located in Emigration Canyon just above Salt Lake City, Utah this single family residence of 2,500SF was designed for a couple with young children. The home was designed to capture expansive canyon views while offering a series of gathering and entertainment spaces for the family, both indoors and out. The great room opens to the canyon with a 30 foot operable wall to transform the space into an outdoor room. The warm colors of cor-ten steel cladding combine with a board-formed wood textured concrete and glass for a contextual, low-maintenance and modern material palette. The house has submitted for LEED certification with green design features throughout. The cladding is recycled steel shingles which will turn a deep rust color matching the fall canyon colors foliage. Natural light is brought into the house with solatube skylights and heat is provided through an energy-efficient in-floor radiant heating system. The design required minimum excavation of the site and allowed for the retention of much of the native oaks on site. The house was designed by Sparano + Mooney Architecture for long-term flexibility with a lower floor multi-use space to house guests, a home office, a playroom or an art studio. Native, draught-tolerant landscaping elements compliment the architecture and further tie the home to its canyon setting."


Here is a link to a very cool time-lapse of construction photos from the Sparano + Mooney website: Time-Lapse Construction Video



Section through home from Sparano + Mooney website


Photo of kitchen from Sparano + Mooney website