URBAN TREEHOUSE

This project explores the potential to create an urban oasis through the synergy of a home’s architecture and interior design. The design for this 2,000 square-foot residence in a densely-populated neighborhood near downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, incorporates a series of indoor/outdoor spaces, connecting the home to its urban context while serving as a sanctuary for the occupant. Sparano + Mooney Architecture minimized the footprint and size of the home while maximizing the spatial experience through working with scale, proportions, light and materials. The program includes a large, open-plan entertaining space (kitchen, dining, and living areas), primary suite, a small pool and a guesthouse. The project explores the idea of a home as a sanctuary from the outside world - a sanctuary must feel simultaneously inviting and protective, but in the context of community living, the architects developed spaces that do not give the impression of prioritizing seclusion over neighborliness. The primary design challenge was therefore to reconcile these seemingly polar desires: to feel secluded, yet open; to be connected, yet separate from the world. This design seeks resolution to this apparent dichotomy by maximizing transparency and employing passive ways to obscure views into the most private areas of the house. The design response is a uniform, rectangular mass with several voids cut to integrate and provide outdoor space.

The importance of the tree as a design driver is evident in the project’s heuristic design process, during which the team developed a series of sculptural models crafting negative space from multiple pieces of discarded fragments of wood found on-site. These studies, in conjunction with continued discussions with the client, were integral in developing the form and massing for the project. The research-based, conceptual and sustainable design emerged as one that reflects the owner’s vision for contemporary urban living and provides a model for the potential for infill design in the city.