PROJECT  Gobo Run

LOCATION  Shenandoah Valley, , 

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  12/31/2012

ARCHITECT  Foundry Architects

ASSOCIATED ARCHITECT  

OWNER/CLIENT  withheld

CONTRACTOR  Dorzak Builders

PHOTOGRAPHER  Paul Burk

DESIGN TEAM  Matthew Compton AIA, Will Couch AIA

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT:

Located on a nob of land completely surrounded by National Forest, this 1,700 square foot residence is designed to comfortably house a couple and parent-in-laws. The home’s form and siting is informed wholly by careful studies intended to take advantage of the prevailing winds, solar gain, and to frame specific views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The design implements passive cooling strategies combined with a glycol solar heated slab to minimize dependence on the grid. The location and size of the windows are designed to provide cross ventilation in the most frequently used areas. The guest pod and main house are connected by a nod to the southern vernacular dogtrot, which provides space for gathering while also harnessing the cooling breezes falling from a nearby mountaintop. The home’s position within the clearing takes advantage of the numerous deciduous trees to assist in the control of sunlight. Along with deep overhangs and careful, intentional shifting of the forms, summer heat gain is kept to a minimum in this passively cooled home. The concrete slab acts as a heat sink for the winter sun to further reduce reliance on the solar heating system. The Owners selected this parcel of land on which to build because they fell in love with views of the surrounding peaks, valleys, and forest. Rooms and fenestration were laid out to highlight the views at specific times of day and year, when the occupants’ activity within the home coincided with the most picturesque times to appreciate their surroundings. The home is clad in tongue and groove cypress boards milled from reclaimed fallen trees hardened from years of being submerged in river banks. The hardened cypress is left untreated and will weather with age to further compliment the zinc cladding used elsewhere on the home. The interior concrete floor is burnished and sealed, but left exposed, to provide for the most efficient delivery of heat from the solar heated glycol system. The house's form and sloping rooflines are intended to evoke and compliment the surrounding topography, and the clearing/meadow will be allowed to grow naturally around and up to the house.

IMAGE CAPTIONS & CREDITS

IMAGE 1  Gobo Run_north facade.jpg; North facade; Paul Burk Photography

IMAGE 2  Gobo Run_interior main.jpg; Main house living room; Paul Burk Photography

IMAGE 3  03_Gobo Run.jpg; Main house and dogtrot with outdoor fireplace/oven (view towards East); Paul Burk Photography

IMAGE 4  02_Gobo Run.jpg; South facade; Paul Burk Photography

IMAGE 5  04_Gobo Run.jpg; Dogtrot from south; Paul Burk Photography

IMAGE 6  06_Gobo Run.jpg; Guest pod interior; Paul Burk Photography

IMAGE 7  01_Gobo Run.jpg; North facade; Paul Burk Photography

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project PDF