Inspired by Place - Design Bureau

photo by David Swift

Mosquito Creek Cabin
Wilson, Wyoming
photos by David Swift

A comprehensive renovation of a cabin in Wilson, WY. After finding a suitable site, the cabin was dragged off another piece of property and repurposed to suit the art-collector owners’ sophisticated tastes. Refined finishes and fixtures contrast nicely with the texture of rustic barn wood.

LSR Preserve
Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, Wyoming
photo by Nic Lehoux

Comprising some 1,100 acres on the shores of Phelps Lake, the Interpretive Center and its related trails were a gift from Laurance S. Rockefeller to the National Park Service. The client wanted a “quiet” building designed to fit gently into the landscape. The LSR Preserve is the first to achieve LEED-Platinum status in the National Park Service and in the state.

Logan Pavilion
Jackson, Wyoming
photo by R. Greg Hursley 

The Logan Pavilion is a private residence located on a sagebrush plain north of Jackson, WY. The 2,475-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home borrows its form from the vernacular hay shed. Exterior materials were chosen for their ability to weather gracefully and blend with the colors of the landscape.

Four Seasons Hotel
Denver, Colorado
photo by John Carney

CLB and interior designer Mauricio Salcedo were charged with designing a space that reflected both the opulence of a five-star establishment and the organic warmth of a mountain retreat. Salcedo’s team at Bilkey Llinas installed fireplaces and made ample use of stone and wood. With the help of Denver-based LewisGraham Art Consultants, the team brought in a collection of nearly 1,200 works of art.

Peaks View
Wilson, Wyoming
photo by Matthew Millman 

“They weren’t looking for the typical Western house with log walls, small windows, and antler details,” Logan says. “It needed to be unique to them, their family needs and desires.” He used two types of cedar siding to create pattern, texture, and depth on the exterior. Inside, he used an heirloom kimono, part of the family collection, to guide the design. 

Leave a Reply

Inspired by Place

Monday, October 10th, 2011

by Christopher Moraff

The architects and staff at Carney Logan Burke have a pretty nice gig. Headquartered in the western resort community of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, they design buildings that sit in some of nature’s most pristine locales, all while gazing out the window at their own majestic mountain view. But the catch-22 of architecture—that in order to live somewhere beautiful, you risk spoiling what makes it beautiful—is not lost on the firm.

“There is this lure that this place has, and a power it has over people,” says Eric Logan, an architect and partner at the firm. “We are given these opportunities to build here and alter the place, and frankly, the responsibility weighs heavily on us.” The firm’s approach, Logan says, is to use appropriate materials and composition to draw out the natural equilibrium between a project and its surroundings. “We feel like we’re doing our job if the buildings are functional as well as beautiful, and complement, not compete with, the environment.”

Founded in 1992 by Harvard-educated architect John Carney, CLB has imparted its vision on community facilities, commercial buildings, resorts, and mixed-use complexes throughout the rural West. Today, Logan and Carney—together with a third partner, Kevin Burke—make up CLB’s core team. All three live in or around Jackson Hole and emphasize that a strong connection to the community is a key element of CLB’s design mission.

“We feel responsible to serve the community,” Logan says. “We regularly do second homes, but we balance that by maintaining a workable presence in the community, meaning we won’t turn down work for the guy across the street that just needs a remodel.” Logan and his firm are challenged with facing a rugged traditionalism that requires anyone wanting to alter the environment to navigate a gauntlet of design-approval boards, protected wetlands, and stringent regulations designed to protect wildlife corridors. As such, CLB’s residential buildings veer from the archetypical “Western” look to embrace a “less is more” reductivism that imparts an almost Zen-like clarity. “One of the basic principles of design is to be a sort of editor, trimming the whole until there is not too much and not too little.”

So if, like Joni Mitchell, you lament the paving of paradise, rest assured that Carney Logan Burke is taking its job as architect and editor seriously. Because when all is said and done, it’s precisely this formula of thoughtful restraint that results in a structure seamlessly integrated into the breathtaking Wyoming landscape.

 

Tagged with: