Located in Emigration Canyon just above Salt Lake City, Utah, this single-family residence of 2,500 SF 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, including on the rooftop deck, which functions as an outdoor room complete with fireplace and seating. The great room opens to the canyon with a 30-foot operable wall of Redstone Large Sliding Doors to transform the space into an outdoor room. 

The home’s rustic palette references the landscape of the American West – the warm colors of Corten steel cladding combine with board-formed, wood-textured concrete and glass for a contextual, low-maintenance and modern range of materials. The exterior skin was assembled on-site by interlocking recycled-steel shingles into a geometric pattern. This surface will change over time just as the makeup of the family occupying the home will shift as well. The steel also protects the home from the near-constant threat of wildfires. The house has earned the first LEED-H (Leadership in Energy and Environmental) Silver certification in the state of Utah with sustainable features throughout. Water use is minimized with dual-flush toilets and a rainwater capture system for irrigation of the gardens.

Natural light is brought into the house with Solatube skylights and heat is provided through an energy-efficient in-floor radiant heating system that warms the concrete floors. Virtually no electricity is required to light the home during the day, and natural ventilation can be utilized much of the year allowing the canyon breezes to regulate the home’s temperature. The design required minimum excavation of the site and allowed for the retention of much of the native oak trees on-site. The house is designed for long-term flexibility with a lower-floor, multi-use space to house guests, a home office, and a playroom or an art studio, with a separate entrance and patio. Native, draught-tolerant landscaping elements compliment the architecture and further tie the home to its canyon setting.