Project Farsight
Aptly named, this house for a landscape photographer and outdoor enthusiast challenged DA to make the most of its setting with a minimum of means. In this post, we’ll share some of the high and low tech tools we used to realize this vision.
Nestled at the base Mount Whitney, the site has sweeping views of protected BLM land, the Alabama Hills (a famous backdrop for old western films, car commercials, and Iron Man), and of Lone Pine Peak. Our client was eager to find ways to use his new home to frame views in every direction.
Ground Truth
For all the digital tools we have today, there is nothing like walking the site in person. Here, Brett and Casey stake out the potential living room footprint. This helped fine tune the main wall orientation to frame Lone Pine Peak.
Getting our Bearings
A theodolite iPhone app captures each view with an overlay of data including tilt, cardinal direction, bearing, and elevation to pinpoint the location of landmarks. We also use a sun surveyor app that overlays the location of the sun on the site at different times of the year. At Project Farsight, the mountain range blocks sun in the early afternoon which set the depth of west facing overhangs.
Placing spherical Go-Pro images in the 3D model allows us to frame views with precision.
Putting it all Together
The data collected on site enables us to design with real world context in mind. For example...
We used a panorama of Lone Pine Peak to set the roof pitch and overhang depth. This ensured that the roof line would not obstruct the view of Lone Pine Peak from the kitchen....
The Office roofline is designed to trace the profile of the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains...
A full height window in the entry frames the view of the desert floor and mountains beyond...
The pocketing doors in the kitchen frame the view of protected BLM land to the south and the sloped living room roof gestures to Lone Pine Peak to the west...
And a gap in the slatted wall adjacent to the entry provides a peek of the mountain beyond and frames the oculus above...
What’s in your Sights?
At DA, we do more than design buildings; we invent new ways to be creative, collaborative, and have fun! Whether we’re framing a view, sculpting the form of a house, or finding your inner Iron Man, having the right tools helps us make the most of any site. Give us a call if we can help you realize your vision.