Project Description
A photographer’s search for the site of his future house required a majestic environment with vast natural vistas found only in the American West. Early on, during travels for a photography shoot, he fortuitously came across a structure embodying his vision for a house. He found the architect’s identity, after which ten years passed before he found the site with his ideals. The requested program consists of live and work spaces connected by a display gallery. The brief further dictates that the forms consist of simple shapes and the materials requiring minimal long term maintenance requirements. The house is sited on the Eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada range. Its preeminent allure is magnificent panoramas from a high desert terrain of rugged topography featuring striking rock outcrops among sage brush. The live part is designed to house the photographer, his family and house guests. The work part is a photography studio with exhibit gallery for his work and art collection. The program functions are physically delineated into serial modules with interposing trellised courtyards and linked by “bridges.” The resulting long and narrow structure optimizes the dramatic views ranging from the mountain backdrop above the site to Reno city lights below. From the studio to the gallery to the living spaces, each room “connects” to the environment on two or more sides with light, ventilation and views through windows and glass doors. The relationship to the outdoors is especially strong in living / dining / kitchen module which is wrapped on three sides by a south facing terrace with a lap pool accessed through a series of wide sliding glass doors. Sustainability is integral to every aspect of the building’s design, from siting based on solar orientation with integrated landscaping to naturally weathering materials to active energy generation in the forms of photo-voltaic panels and geothermal wells.