BNIM is well known for its environmentally responsible design work—and that’s an understatement. The firm has been instrumental in the creation of the USGBC, the organization’s LEED building standards, and the AIA’s Committee on the Environment. For the most part, firm architects have applied their research and practice to large-scale projects. Single-family custom projects have not been a singular focus. But at the core of their approach to what they call “human purposed design” is a “deep commitment to humanity as the origin of inspiration, innovation, and prosperity,” and this is perhaps the best way to address a custom residential project. It’s a given, then, that BNIM architects such as Rod Kruse, FAIA, and Jonathan Ramsey, AIA, are primed to listen to their clients and to please them in simple and profound ways.
The clients on this project had a wild idea for their rural 9-acre site in Iowa: They wanted a house that would span a large and prominent ravine, like a bridge would cross a creek. Nonetheless, the BNIM team did their due diligence and investigated the entire property for the location for the house. “When they came to us, they were curious about whether it was even possible. They had seen the Midwest Retreat project we had done—on a much bigger piece of property—and really liked it,” recalls Jonathan, who was project architect for the house. “In the end, it did make sense to site the house over the ravine. We try to touch the land as lightly as possible and it accomplished that. And we were excited about it as a unique gesture.”
The house is large, nearly 9,000 square feet, so it was important to make it as efficient as possible—not just with active measures, but with passive ones as a priority. “Our strategy is always to make the no-cost moves first,” Jonathan explains. “We do everything we can to set it up right. So, orientation is always front of mind. That was one of the reasons that spanning the ravine made sense. In a lot of other places on the property, we would have had to get further out of the ground.” The house shades itself against heat gain from the south—where the big views are—with a 6-foot overhang, and there are high-tech solutions such as geothermal heating and cooling. The system takes care of 50 percent of the water heating needs, too, says Jonathan.
The Road Taken
No residential project is successful unless it’s functional for everyday life and it supplies a measure of delight to uplift the soul. The clients on this project, a full-time residence, drive across the site and over a creek to get to their house every day. The journey to the house is as much a part of the experience as the dwelling is—and the heart of that experience is the immersion in nature. “They just really love being in the house and experiencing all the seasons and nature that happen all around them,” Jonathan says. “The topography, vegetation, and the landscape—the house wraps around and over the landscape. It helps form and frame the landscape.”
Framing the landscape was a key driver for every design move and orchestration of program. Central functions occupy the bridge portion of the house—kitchen, dining, living—taking advantage of large spans of curtain wall that face north and south.
The southern window wall, with its big forest vista, continues beyond the bridge to provide views for the ends of the house as well—the master suite and, at the opposite end, a library/workspace. Meanwhile, every circulation route aligns with glass and views, so all movement through the house is rewarded with a delightful scene. “The master bath is enveloped by cedar trees,” says Jonathan. “And the counters in the kitchen reflect the sky. You’ll see a spot moving across them, and it’s the reflection of vultures flying by.”
Enabling those uninterrupted vistas and keeping the overall house design light and precise required very careful planning up front. For instance, support columns are painted black and aligned with window frames so they disappear. Service areas for the kitchen are zoned in one block in the pantry. And nearly everything that’s necessary but unsightly hides in the fireplace wall. “We used the fireplace block for a lot of the mechanical systems, the air intake and anything else that is an outlet and needs to go through the roof,” says Jonathan. “We used wood trusses for the spans and for the roof, so we were also able to block out openings in the trusses to run major utilities. And we used closed-cell foam in the roof, so we didn’t have to ventilate it and could keep it thin.” Execution of these elements was of paramount importance, and so Jonathan called upon Mark Main of Mainbuilt, with whom he had worked on the award-winning Midwest Retreat. “He is outstanding. This can’t just have happened with our visions and drawing. His work was instrumental.”
A bounty of thought and planning went into the major and minor delights of the Ravine Residence, and yet one of its most loved features was a wonderful surprise: a covered patio, located at the service end of the house, that was originally meant to be a screened porch. It doesn’t share the big southern view that the main living area showcases; instead it faces north. “The patio is nestled in there, with the hill rising behind it. The wing beyond forms another wall, which expands the space but gives it definition,” Jonathan says. “Some of my favorite moments and the clients’ are to the north. Nature comes into play and envelopes them. That roof overhead provides a sense of shelter. There are sights and sounds. Leaving the patio open instead of screening it in—that small move made all the difference.”
Plans and Drawings
Other Images
Project Credits
Ravine Residence
Rural Iowa
ARCHITECT: Rod Kruse, FAIA, principal in charge; Jonathan Ramsey, AIA, project architect; Dana Sorenson, AIA, BNIM,
Des Moines, Iowa
BUILDER: Mark Main, Mainbuilt, Clive, Iowa
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Ted Lare, Dana Cox, Ted Lare Design + Build, Cumming, Iowa
PROJECT SIZE: 8,795 square feet
SITE SIZE: 9 acres
CONSTRUCTION COST: Withheld
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kelly Callewaert
Key Products
DOORS: Modern Steel Doors
LOCKSETS: Yale
PIVOT DOOR HARDWARE: RIXSON
GARAGE DOORS: Wayne Dalton
ROOFING: Firestone Building Products
UNDERLAYMENT/SHEATHING: Huber Engineered Wood
WEATHERIZATION SYSTEMS:
Keene Driwall Rainscreen
HVAC: ClimateMaster Geothermal Heat Pump System
FIREPLACE INSERT: Heat & Glo
LARGE FORMAT TILE: Fiandre
COUNTERTOPS: Vicostone Quartz
CABINETS: Minnesota Cabinets
CABINET PULLS: Mockett
KITCHEN RANGE/WALL OVENS: Wolf
REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER: Sub-Zero
VENT HOOD: Thermador
DISHWASHER: Thermador
FAUCETS: Delta, Hansgrohe
SINKS: Lacava, Duravit, Kohler
TOILETS: Kohler
TUBS: MTI Baths, Kohler
TILE: Daltile
LIGHTING: Bega, Cree, Delta Light
LIGHTING CONTROL: Lutron
WINDOW SHADING: Lutron
PAINTS/STAINS/COATINGS:
Diamond Vogel