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  Saltern Residence

Project Data: 2,320 sq. ft. new single family dwelling, and 813 sq. ft. basement with 890 sq. ft. garage /shop
Location: Reno, Nevada
Description: In an attempt to reverse the curse of the ubiquitous "snout house" (i.e. two car garage with a house behind it), the Saltern Residence addresses environmental and programmatic factors while still comfortably residing in a northwestern Reno, Nevada suburb. Hopefully re-introducing the home's living area to the street and the community, enhancing the "front porch" concept rather than hiding behind the garage, the Saltern Residence shifts the garage back and the living room forward. Public and private programmatic zoning is achieved through a spilt level design.

Dubbed the "Inverted Economic Suburban Sombrero", the elegance of the curved roofs is achieved economically through the use of standard trusses. Concurrent with the owner's desire for a Suburban loft space, simple loops of glu-lam beams span from tower to tower supporting the exposed roof trusses. Oversized and digitized upper truss chords allow the curve to be scribed and cut on site prior to erection.

Shifting the living room toward the front of the property maximizes the view to Mt. Rose and the Sierra Nevada mtn. range to the southwest. The spilt level design address a number of issues: 1) lifting living area affords some privacy while still facing the front of the property, 2) the substandard soils required to be dug out result in a nostalgic semi-basement / entertainment room, 3) limiting the runs of stairs to 1/2 from floor to floor. The tandem garage / shop provides the contractor-owner an extended work-storage space without the trophy case of (4) garage doors.

Simple materials configured in a creative, elegant, and feasible solution.

Project Team:
Residential Designer:
Joel L. Sherman
J.L.S. Design

Contractor:
John Hagen
J.L.C. Group, Inc.
Structural Engineer:
Brian Dunnagan
MFT Structural Engineers

Energy:
Clement Woods
Woods Energy Consulting

Computer Model:
Daniel Peralta


Models / Drawings: