KanZan House

KanZan is a Japanese word meaning "high place bordered by mountains". This natural hillside site, with commanding views of the mountains is befitting of such a name.   
 
Traditional Japanese principles were employed in the design to form a non-literal translation in the architecture. This house is Japanese only in spirit.  
 
This relatively large house has only two-bedroom suites and one guest room which doubles as a meditation and yoga room. The large open spaces, made possible with a unique layered beam system, are meant to accommodate large gatherings of people.  This layered beam system, is also the principal form- giver of the architecture and sets up an ordered cadence in its natural environment.  By layering glue-laminated wood beams at intervals of five feet on center, four layers of 6 3/4" x 12" beams provide a truss-like action that allows for two-way spans of 60 feet and overhangs of 15 feet.  Acting in shear against a through bolt at each five-foot joint, this system acts as a modified Vierendeel truss greatly reducing the depth-to-span ratio, in this case by a factor of 1/3.  More technically, a Vierendeel truss is characterized by having only vertical members, no diagonals, between the top and bottom chords.  The modified Vierendeel truss, being a statically indeterminate structure, bending, shear, and axial capacity of these members contribute to the resistance to external loads.  This contrasts with a simple truss which utilizes diagonal elements in conjunction with vertical elements between the truss chords to resolve external loads in tension and compression only. 
 
Other than concrete foundations, retaining walls and architectural concrete wall planes, glass infill and miscellaneous metals, the project is constructed of wood, sourced as much as possible from Idaho forest products.  The choice of Idaho wood is respectful of embodied energy by reducing transportation to the site. Wood is also highly efficient in its thermal qualities for reduction of thermal transfer at the columns and beams. Between the 6 3/4" square glue laminated columns, traditional 2" x 6" wood studs are used and sheathed with 3/4" plywood.  1" x 6" channel lap cedar siding was applied over the sheathing. The interior walls are of horizontal 1" x 6" vertical grain fir and painted gypsum board. Ceilings and soffits are vertical grain fir. Flooring is engineered oak and limestone. Doors and window frames are vertical grain fir. As a special feature in the living room, the Japanese technique of Shou Sugi Ban is exhibited.   
 
Board-formed architectural concrete retaining walls extend beyond the house perimeter as planes-in-space to ground the house in its natural setting. When in the house one feels a sense of peace in its order and a sense of nature in the reciprocal relationship between the indoors and outdoors, a Japanese principle of engawa.