https://www.architecturalrecord.com/rss/2444 en-us A Bay Area firm creates a customized mountain retreat for outdoorsy clients.

]]> http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12101 Sun, 01 Jan 2017 08:13:00 -0500 https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/12101-alpine-meadows-cabin-by-studio-bergtraun-architects Situated on a 23-degree slope that receives some of the region’s heaviest snows, the steel-frame structure’s poured-in-place concrete mat slab is pinned to the hill’s underlying granite. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media The driveway has less than a 5 percent incline, despite its steep site. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media Bergtraun built an extra-long dining table with a galvanized steel top, leftover glulam, and large wheels from a sonogram machine, and a Bay Area-designer created dining room chairs and using recycled firemen’s hose from the local fire department. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media LED lights reflect warm tones from the Douglas fir ceilings. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media In the entryway, visitors are greeted by a bench made of skis that once belonged to the husband’s father, while overhead, overhead, ski poles held in place by beaker clamps crisscross a long bar of LED lights. The couple asked their friends to donate a pole to the custom fixture, and now, says the architect, “the joke is that if you’re no longer a friend, they’ll take your pole down." Photo © Cinematic Digital Media Hot-rolled steel on the fireplace provides a contrasting texture to the warm wood ceiling, while recycled firemen’s hose forms seating cubes. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media The master suite is located on the upper floor. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media The lower floor has bunk beds accessible via rock climbing holds, two bedrooms, and a family room complete with a USGS map of the area that melts down onto a custom surfboard countertop. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media A concrete bridge, cast in place and extending off the upper story kitchen, provides a small patio for grilling that requires minimal snow shoveling. Climbing hooks installed on the edge also make it a platform for rappelling down to the creek below. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media The home’s corrugated metal roof wraps down the side of one volume and into the ground, recalling the train tunnels in the nearby town of Truckee. Photo © Cinematic Digital Media