The Black Squirrel Lodge design began with minimizing impact on its sloping, creek-side site. Excavation is limited to a crawlspace for mechanical equipment and a storm shelter beneath sleeping spaces and a shared-bath, all combined into a thermally conditioned core. The core is capped with a green roof to capture the runoff potential of its footprint.
An adjacent living pavilion is held aloft by timber frames on pier footings, reducing the overall amount of carbon-intensive concrete required for a typical perimeter foundation. Living and dining spaces bookend a central kitchen, where the sink and refrigerator are set into the core to share a wet wall with the bathroom directly over the mechanical space.
A central wood stove near the kitchen not only creates thermal appeal, but offers a manual opportunity to modulate temperature during intermittent visits through the cold season, without concern for freezing pipes in the thermally-controlled core.
The pavilion is covered with a shed roof spanning its timber frames that mimics the slope of the land, directing views towards the creek on the low side, to towering pines through clerestory windows on the high side, and naturally supporting passive cooling and ventilation.
Visually, the corrugated metal-clad roof pivots on the axis of the core, like the protective canopy of a carriage, folding down at each end to limit east and west heat gain. Rainwater is captured in a continuous gutter to be collected via downspouts on either end.
Black Squirrel Lodge is inspired by its namesake critter, frequently spotted on the architect’s property, and designed to reflect the mammals’ inherent lightness, speed and efficiency. For now, BSL remains a concept, but after exploring and pricing a series of alternate design solutions for the site, its underlying principles and adaptability helped this design scurry to the top.
