Imbue Design completes glass-and-steel home in Utah desert landscape

Salt Lake City architecture studio Imbue Design has built a house outside Zion National Park in Utah with sweeping views of one of the USA's most renowned landscapes.

The Watchman Cabin was completed collaboratively with a nature-loving client who was "captivated" by the area's natural surroundings after visiting. Located in Springdale, the site is near the entrance to the Zion National Park, which is famed for its dramatic rock formations and rugged scenery.

Imbue Design built the house outside Zion National Park

"All around the Watchman Cabin's site rise massive stone megaliths that are the handiwork of water and wind and 150 million years of deposition," explained Imbue Design.

"The client requested that Imbue empathetically design a retreat that would harmonise with its unique environment, capture the essence of the place, and resonate with his deliberate nature," the studio added.

The cabin sits against the Utah landscape

The home is sited at the foot of a hill and divided into three volumes that encompass 1,900 square feet (177 square metres).

These include a garage, a main residence, and a standalone guesthouse with its own kitchen and a small living room.

Floor-to-ceiling glazing faces the dramatic views

Each room is connected by covered, but unenclosed walkways.

"All three are threaded together by a CMU [concrete masonry unit – also known as breezeblocks] retaining wall and organised about a central connecting courtyard for gathering," said Imbue Design.

Weathering steel wraps around openings

Within the shared terrace that separates the main residence from the guesthouse, the architects included amenities such as an outdoor fireplace and a soaking tub.

"Where the retaining wall is the cabin's spine, the courtyard is the project’s heart," said Imbue Design.

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Inside, the facades facing Zion's rock formations are glazed from floor to ceiling, offering expansive views of the landscape, while more private areas were clad in weathering steel.

This earthy tone, as well as the masonry's reddish shade, were inspired by the colour of the soil in the area.

Interior spaces offer views of the landscape

"The weathered steel skin provides privacy and protection from the harsh desert climate, while glass volumes in public spaces act as eyes taking in every magnificent vista," said the architects.

The interiors were completed in a restrained, grey palette that is contrasted by the underside of the overhanging roof, which was finished in wood and visible throughout the home.

The cabins give their nature-loving owner immediate access to the landscape

Utah is famed for its remote, dramatic landscapes and desert climate.

Other properties in the Western US state include a home by Klima Architecture in the mountains and a low-slung gabled retreat by Studio Upwall Architects.

The photography is byMiranda Kimberlin.

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Project credits:

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**Contractor: Fahrenkamp

Engineer: Epic Engineering

Geotech: AGEC

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Weathering steel roof shelters Utah desert home by Studio Upwall Architects

American practice Studio Upwall Architects has designed a house on a desert site in Moab, Utah, sheltered from the harsh climate by a weathering steel roof.

Overlooking panoramic views of red rock cliffs, the rusted steel and weathered wood cladding of Sunny Acres Residence was chosen by the Washington-based practice to reference the colour palette and texture of its surroundings.

Sunny Acres Residence and a neighbouring garage are clad in weathering steel to match the desert landscape

The simple arrangement of the 185-square-metre home sees bedrooms and utility spaces in its northern half, and a large living, kitchen and dining area facing south, protected from the sun by the metal roof's large overhang.

"The home is simple in function and form with an asymmetric gable roof volume that is extruded along the main axis of the house to form an exterior shroud," said Studio Upwall Architects.

The two buildings have gabled roofs that overhang outdoor spaces

"The southern wall, punctuated with a series of glass doors and windows designed to provide a connection to the landscape and panoramic views, is set in under the deep overhang of the roof to deliver shade in the hottest months."

This overhanging roof form continues downwards with two wall sections, one solid and one fitted with louvres, at either end of the roof to further shade the large windows.

Smooth concrete patios are used as outdoor dining areas

Extending from the interior, the smooth concrete floor creates a patio that wraps around the southern end of the home, with outdoor seating areas oriented towards the La Sal Mountains and sunrise to the east, and sunset over the Utah Cliffs to the west.

Grey render covers the exterior, with openings surrounded by weathered wood cladding to creating a softer texture where the home is entered. A sliding, slatted door on the eastern elevation enables further control of the sunlight.

Inside, white walls and a pitched ceiling brings a feeling of lightness and space, with simple fittings focusing attention on the framed views of the landscape.

A ladder leads up to a mezzanine loft above the kitchen area, creating a more intimate space for reading and reflection away from the brightness and open views of the ground floor.

The house features neutral interiors

Along the northern edge, the roof extends down to provide greater privacy in the bedroom and bathroom spaces, which feature smaller horizontal windows.

Opposite, a small garage building has been designed with the same form and weathered exterior finishes to mirror the main home.

White walls are set against darker cabinetry in the kitchen

Other projects recently completed in Utah include a charred wood home by Klima Architecture and a cedar-clad courtyard home by Kipp Edick and Joe Sadoski, both located close to the Wasatch Mountains.

The photography is byCity Home Collective.

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Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Friis & Moltke design "humane prison" in Greenland's capital

New photos show Danish studios Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Friis & Moltke's Corten-clad prison overlooking a fjord in Greenland's capital Nuuk.

The facility, called Anstalten, is the first high-security prison in Greenland, which previously relocated all of those sentenced for serious crimes to Denmark.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Friis & Moltke completed the prison in Nuuk

These relocated inmates will now be given the option to transfer back to Greenland and serve their sentence closer to home.

Designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Friis & Moltke to be a "small village", the Anstalten complex was completed in 2019. It comprises roughly 8,000 square metres of units for 76 inmates alongside workspaces, educational and sports spaces, a library, health centre and chapel.

The buildings are partly clad in weathering steel

"This 'humane facility' concept mimics the rhythm and structure of everyday life," said the architects.

Forty of the prison's cells are "closed" and 36 are "open", in accordance with Greenland's prison system that allows inmates to continue to interact with their communities, to visit family and work.

The complex is designed to create a connection to nature for inmates

Situated between the base of a mountainous landscape and the Nuuk Kangerlua fjord, the Anstalten prison was designed to "blend seamlessly" with its surroundings and create a connection to nature for inmates.

"Respect and dignity are at the heart of the design, reflected to the point between people and institution, as well as in the relationship between the building and the unique natural setting that surrounds it," said the architects.

Works by local artists decorate the interiors

This guided the material choices, with blocks clad in weathered Corten steel and raised on concrete podiums that follow the contours and irregular level of the site.

Walkways connect these separate blocks, aiming to provide some mental and physical separation between the living and work areas.

"The contrast between beauty and roughness was a guiding theme in the design for Anstalten," the architects said. "We focussed on openness, light, views, security and flexibility, and incorporated local, native culture into the design process."

Each residential block is divided into a series of private 12-square-metre rooms, with bar-less windows providing views over the prison's concrete wall towards the sea and surrounding landscape.

Spaces for sports are located on the complex

A panoramic window spanning the length of the common room frames further views, while in the chapel, tall thin windows between timber-fin walls look out at the mountains.

A selection of interior walls, as well as the prison's concrete perimeter wall, have been finished with work by Greenlandic artists Julie Edel Hardenberg, Miki Jakobsen and Aka Høegh, inspired by traditional local costumes and mythology.

The project is Greenland's first high-security prison

Nuuk is also the location of Danish practice Schmidt Hammer Lassen's "breakthrough" project: the undulating timber-clad Katuaq Cultural Centre of Greenland.

The photography is byAdam Mørk.

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Project credits:

Architect: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Friis & Moltke Architects

Client: Danish Ministry of Justice Danish Prison and Probation Service

Engineer: Rambøll A/S

Landscape architect: Møller & Grønborg

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