Wyoming firm Carney Logan Burke has extended a house in Jackson Hole to provide its residents with a workspace that boasts sweeping views.
The extension – known as Trader Studio – provides a home office that is connected to the main house but located a few metres away to benefit from the extra peace and quiet.
“Located on a butte overlooking Jackson Hole, the addition responds to views, playing upon the contrast of prospect and refuge,” said Carney Logan Burke.
Its south and east walls are constructed from rammed earth. The technique involves densely compacting layers of soil inside formwork, creating thick partitions with a high thermal mass.
Rammed earth was also recently used to build a house in a Portuguese vineyard and a meditation centre at Stanford University.
Carney Logan Burke paired the material with bronze-clad windows and steel shingles – all chosen to contrast with the main house, which is built from logs in a style more typical of the region.
The north wall of the office space is entirely glazed, so a picture of the forest and mountains beyond is framed from the desk.
Horizontal slot windows in the rammed-earth walls also give views of Sleeping Indian and Wolf Mountain to the east and south.
Edges of the tilted flat roof extend beyond the building’s footprint, and windows in the ceiling cast light onto the striated walls inside.
“A skylight parallel to the east wall illuminates the horizontal striations of the earth layers, celebrating the inherent beauty of the materials,” said the architects.
Accessed from the main house via a curving corridor, the room is minimally furnished with modern furniture and a 400-year-old Chinese Buddha head.
Stained concrete is used for the floors, while copper panels cover the ceiling.
As part of the project, the architects also installed an outdoor shower at the back of the extension.
This decked area is obscured by a screen of vertical steel louvres, produced by a local artist.
“The form of the addition creates a protected courtyard that mediates between old and new,” Carney Logan Burke said.
The studio has completed a variety of projects in and around Jackson Hole – a popular resort with skiers and snowboarders.
They include a vacation estate for a New York family, a residence arranged around a giant boulder and a house with a climbing wall up one side.
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