An Embodiment of the Surrounding Environment

Designed to resist the fires typical of the region, the roof and exterior walls are clad in weathered, standing seam metal panels while the interior floors, walls, and ceilings are plywood. The faceted exterior “shell” is articulated with windows and skylights and punctured on the south by a south-facing, two-story sleeping porch. The second-story sleeping porch is enclosed by those same metal panels, these ones perforated.

Fire is an integral part of the ecology of the forest, providing a natural way to thin out the forest, reducing the competition for access to sunlight, water and minerals in the soil and allowing the healthy trees to thrive. The structure is wrapped in rusted metal siding (walls and roof) to resist the effects of wind-blown embers, the color of which is similar to the bark of the surrounding trees.

A compact, energy efficient design features a centrally located kitchen, double height living space and three porches allowing each living space to be connected directly to the outdoors, an important feature in the regions sunny summers punctuated afternoon monsoons and snowy winters, allowing people living in the house to experience the outdoors in a variety of settings and orientations (exposed to sun, covered, semi-covered) without damaging the fragile forest understory. Interior walls and ceilings are faced in stained plywood paneling, the vertical joints of which are covered with wood battens echoing the standing seam pattern of the rusted metal cladding.