Designed by THA Architecture, the Sunshine Canyon Residence was, in a way, created by the Fourmile Canyon Fire of 2010. The owners, who lost their home in that fire, wanted to rebuild near their original home site. Embracing the beauty of the burned landscape, they chose a steeply sloped southern facing site, also burned by Fourmile fire. The home responds to this dramatic site through a simple form – juxtaposed to the landscape while inspired by the fragmented granite boulders and mining equipment. A simple bar hovers above the slope, angled at the ends to address distant views and accept entry from the road, and shifted to allow views and movement through a breezeway at one end. The form is supported on slender steel columns and simple concrete shear walls, minimizing the impact of construction on the site while allowing the slope to flow under the house without interruption. In this way, the house preserves the landscape as it was found and intensifies the reading of the slope – allowing the mine pit and the boulders along the ridgeline to remain untouched.
