In 2012, Centre Sky Architecture began a relationship with a client which would end up creating an artful masterpiece with through collaboration and standing out as a truly unique Mountain Modern home with Asian infused aesthetic. This project with a one-of-a-kind story ended up being called the Flagstaff House. Our client, Jason Forsberg, runs a custom furniture company who manufactures custom pieces out of a small town in Indonesia. On our first meeting to go over and develop the Flagstaff House we went through hundreds of pictures of Jason’s artistic furniture, but also pictures of discarded materials, whether they were 100 year old steel panels or historic teak and salvageable timbers.
The Flagstaff House, through the design process was an incredible 20 year journey by the owner of passion and determination coupled with a beautiful collaboration between our architecture team that turned into a lasting relationship. This unique project has heavy Asian influences due to the owner’s strong connection to Indonesia, along with a Mountain West flare creating a unique and rustic contemporary composition. This mountain contemporary residence is tucked into a mature ponderosa forest in the beautiful high desert of Flagstaff, Arizona. The site was instrumental on the development of our form and structure in early design. The 60 to 100 foot towering ponderosas on the site heavily impacted the location and form of the structure. The Asian influence combined with the vertical forms of the existing ponderosa forest led to the Flagstaff House trending towards a horizontal theme.
The components sourced from Indonesia for this project were like a giant, intricate puzzle of design, each telling a different story. The 150 year old ceiling panels salvaged from a Javanese sugar plantation were transformed to become exterior siding panels on the home. 200 year old iron wood from a Borneo railroad bridge was re-purposed as the massive deck post and beams. The 30 foot bridge constructed for the house was crafted from reclaimed posts, accented with a carved ceiling and glass floor panels. Coordinating the numerous unique pieces to form a cohesive design was a true collaboration.