CASE STUDY: BUTTE RESIDENCE

Photo courtesy of Western Red Lumber Association/© Paul Warchol

Shown is the Butte Residence in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at dusk.

Project Type: Single-family home
Client: Couple with grown children
Location: Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Architects: CLB Architects
Structural Engineers: KL&A
General Contractor: Kurt Wimberg Construction

As the name suggests, this Jackson Hole residence is built on a butte surrounded by national parks and the Teton Mountain Range. The property overlooks the convergence of the Snake and Gros Ventre rivers. So when it came to deciding on a building site that offers spectacular views, the owners were spoilt for choice.

“There were so many opportunities presented by the site,” says Eric Logan, AIA, principal at Carney Logan Burke Architects. “We spent a year adjusting the proposed building location. The owners were intimately involved in every step of the process.”

“The owners were interested in creating an ‘unfolding experience’ on the site,” Logan continues. “They also desired architecture with character and materiality that respects western tradition but embraces simple, abstract spaces.”

He reconciled this latter aspect with the use of stone and plenty of WRC. But rather than rendering those materials in a traditional American frontier form with exposed beams, columns, and logs, the wood was used as a skin.

CASE STUDY: CEDAR HOUSE

Photo courtesy of Western Red Lumber Association/© Angus Martin

Shown is the exterior of the Cedar House in Flinders Bay, Australia.

Project Type: Family home
Client: Family of three
Location: Flinders Bay, Western Australia
Architect: Craig Steere Architects (CSA)
Engineer: Cornforth CB Consulting Engineers
Contractor: Oceania Blue Constructions

Tucked in lush foliage on the outskirts of a Western Australia coastal town, this award-winning “Cedar House” is designed to maximize the site’s spectacular ocean views and semi-rural setting.

But before Craig Steere of Craig Steere Architects (CSA) could achieve this naturalistic feat, he had to first address various topographical challenges, including a steeply sloping site, scattered large granite stone outcrops, and significant rainwater runoff.

However, with the help of early geotechnical investigations, the CSA team was able to carefully plan the building’s footprint. The result is this stunning U-shaped, WRC-clad structure that juts out toward the shoreline, offering protection from harsh elements while also allowing occupants to feel at one with their natural surroundings.

To further enhance this coastal living experience, the home’s color scheme reflects the area’s expansive shoreline. The white walls, for instance, reference the sandy beaches, and the grey polished plaster is a nod to the granite boulders found around the property. But the most inspired hue here has to be all the beautiful richly toned wood.

“The western red cedar was used extensively inside and out, providing a material connection piercing through the structure while offering natural beauty and warmth to the material palette of the house and connecting with the oranges and reds of the natural earth,” Steere explains.