Anosha
WBA was commissioned by ANOSHA to develop Master Plan / Conceptual Design for a 60-acre high-grove site of juniper / pine at the doorstep of Grand Canyon National Park, with proximate SE views to the often-snow-capped San Francisco Peaks within North America’s second-largest volcanic field nearly contiguous with another volcanic field to SW. ANOSHA was founded to develop short-term retreats timelessly resonant with ‘the specificity of places’ and from the outset we were aligned on utilizing mass construction techniques that are experientially and culturally resonant with the natural, geologic, and human history of the Colorado Plateau. The site’s SE aspect affords expansive views toward Arizona’s highest peaks as well as the warmth of morning sun in this colder clime. A subtle ridgeline tips downward to a SW-to-NE drainage / wildlife corridor at sites’ SE corner – less wooded, more panoramically open – while an undulating high-grove to NW offers similar more telescopic views tucked into ‘sites forested edge’. Current zoning allows (6) ten-acre parcels with (1) Main House / Guest House on each. We were encouraged to develop repeatable two-bedroom ‘panoramic’ and two- to three-bedroom ‘telescopic’ MH/GH prototypes utilizing reconfigurable mass-construction forms accommodating rammed earth, rammed concrete, and/or in-situ stone (concrete) on spread footings with integral heating ducts cast into ground-concrete-floors, serving as a literal ‘window into geology of this place.’ Pozzolan – the-most-energy-intensive-ingredient-in-concrete – exists abundantly in surrounding volcanic fields in red, gray, black aggregates, sands, and fines, materials long used throughout this region for concrete, asphalt, masonry, grounding the architecture directly in ‘the material culture of the land.’
Anosha
WBA was commissioned by ANOSHA to develop Master Plan / Conceptual Design for a 60-acre high-grove site of juniper / pine at the doorstep of Grand Canyon National Park, with proximate SE views to the often-snow-capped San Francisco Peaks within North America’s second-largest volcanic field nearly contiguous with another volcanic field to SW. ANOSHA was founded to develop short-term retreats timelessly resonant with ‘the specificity of places’ and from the outset we were aligned on utilizing mass construction techniques that are experientially and culturally resonant with the natural, geologic, and human history of the Colorado Plateau. The site’s SE aspect affords expansive views toward Arizona’s highest peaks as well as the warmth of morning sun in this colder clime. A subtle ridgeline tips downward to a SW-to-NE drainage / wildlife corridor at sites’ SE corner – less wooded, more panoramically open – while an undulating high-grove to NW offers similar more telescopic views tucked into ‘sites forested edge’. Current zoning allows (6) ten-acre parcels with (1) Main House / Guest House on each. We were encouraged to develop repeatable two-bedroom ‘panoramic’ and two- to three-bedroom ‘telescopic’ MH/GH prototypes utilizing reconfigurable mass-construction forms accommodating rammed earth, rammed concrete, and/or in-situ stone (concrete) on spread footings with integral heating ducts cast into ground-concrete-floors, serving as a literal ‘window into geology of this place.’ Pozzolan – the-most-energy-intensive-ingredient-in-concrete – exists abundantly in surrounding volcanic fields in red, gray, black aggregates, sands, and fines, materials long used throughout this region for concrete, asphalt, masonry, grounding the architecture directly in ‘the material culture of the land.’