MINER'S SHELTER
TYPOLOGY: Desert Shelter
LOCATION: Taliesin West, Arizona
COMPLETED: December, 2011
PROJECT DESIGNER/MANAGER(S): Dave Frazee with Robert Jackovich and Christopher Madden Carr
PROJECT TEAM: Dakotah Apostolou, Charles Arundel, Glen Biehle, Thai Blackburn, Ron Boswell, Chelsea Clark, Emil Crystal, Daniel Dillow, Aris Georges, Jeff Graham, Dani Loryn Christi Hill, Russ Karlstad, Peter Maestri, Nick Mancusi, Brian Maxwell, Charles McCall, Michael P. Johnson, Gilbert Rey, Bob Sanders, Victor Sidy, Samuel Wharton, Pierre Verbruggen, and Huiee Wong
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Nathan Rist and Dave Frazee
ARTWORK BY: (Left to Right) Aris Georges, Mackenzie Meitner, and Emil Crystal
PROVIDER(S):
Architectural Windows Manufacturing Company (Full Window Donation)
Agate Steel (Exterior Steel Panels with Partial Donation)
Taliesin West Salvage Yard (Steel Tube and Sheet Steel)
Home Depot (Wood Framing, Birch Plywood, Redwood Lath, and Plaster)
Sun Valley Construction (Hat Channel)
Davis Salvage (Air Wall Vents)
The Miner’s Shelter is a desert dwelling located at Taliesin West in Scottsdale Arizona. The shelter was designed and built by Taliesin student Dave Frazee.
The concept and title comes from the architectural ruins that were found at the project’s site. The shelter’s design geometry is inspired by the existing concrete pad and chimney mass.
The shelter is held at two feet above the desert surface by two steel posts and one of the original concrete walls. It is coddled by a nearby Palo Verde tree.
The shelter is covered with steel panels that are attached to metal channels, which hold the panels three inches off of the wall. The air space allows for hot air vent away from the structure improving the insulation quality for the interior space. Where the material changes planes on the exterior, the structure is clad with ebony stained redwood. The steel and wood were selected for their aging qualities and durability in the desert. The rusted steel used to pay homage to the deserts rich mining history. Over time the panels acquiring a patina similar to that of the desert mountain range. The redwood was also chosen for its aging quality, and its precedent as a building material for the original Taliesin West desert camp.
The entrance to the shelter is located on the inner courtyard of the concrete pad closest to the chimney mass. This allows for a student to open up the shelter and gain warmth on a cool night from the nearby fire.
The interior wall finish material is a combination of plaster and birch plywood. The cold color of the plaster creates a cave like experience, and the intersections of the birch plywood built-in, provide a place to set a book or a few candles for nighttime visibility. From inside the shelter, the views towards the entrance frame the McDowell mountain range (that span from the northeast towards the south). The window closest to the chimney frames the Phoenix Valley.
The shelter’s operable windows allow a current resident on the warmest nights to receive a gentle breeze from the desert wash, from the toe of the bed, to the head. On colder nights, the windows can be shut to retain heat.
Last but not least, along the pad near the chimney mass of the shelter, is a small landscaping addition. Existing “L” shaped blocks (Originally used for a low wall on the site) were used to level out the ground of the existing concrete pad. The “L” shape was used as a design inspiration and reference throughout the project. The shape appears at every scale of design throughout the project. In plan, you can see it by the shelters placement onto the existing site, In elevation you see where the shelter overhangs and interacts with the Palo Verde tree, and in detail throughout the interior where the plaster and birch plywood interact.
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