Madison Valley, Montana | This project is situated on a sloping windswept bluff overlooking Beaver Head National Forest with extraordinary views of Big Sky Mountain. The overall design is a long barn-like structure bisected across the center by an enormous cantilevered observation deck of nearly 4800 sq. ft.
Half of the main form is an open shell which serves as an entrance pavilion. It contains only a staircase leading up to the observation deck. From the deck, one can enter the main house in the other half. There is an alternate, sheltered path under the deck, opening behind the staircase. Fabricated from Corten steel and glass, a 60-foot bridge spans a 3-story atrium space below.
Top Down Plan
On the uppermost level of the house is the main living space which includes kitchen, dining and living areas. All of the floors have breath-taking mountain views at one end and look in to the atrium at the other. The atrium walls are lined with a Corten steel trellis. A lily pond resides at the base.
Design Team: John Beckmann, Ronald Dapsis, Masaru Ogasawara and Natacha Mankowski
Renderings: Ronald Dapsis and Masaru Ogasawara
Total Area: 10,200 sq. ft. including 4,800 sq. ft. observation deck.
Materials: Reclaimed oak siding and beams, Corten steel, glass, photovoltaic standing seam roof, CMU, steel sub-structure.
Axis Mundi's Ark House is a design for the open plains of Big Sky Country in Montana. The animals found in this and the following rendering may give the impression that the wood and steel structure is a modern-day Noah's ark, but inside the wood base is a three-story house. Here we see the entrance pavilion, which leads to a large observation deck; below it is a bridge that provides access to the house at the far end.