The Built Environment Image Guide For The National … with flora and fauna, they are the stage for...

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Chapter 4.4

The Southeast Mountain Province“Architecture and landscape design are not words on paper.… Situated in microclimates on the ground, connecting past to the future, palpably there, alive with flora and fauna, they are the stage for life itself.”

—Douglas Kelbaugh

4 .4 A R C H I T E C T U R A L G U I D E L I N E S F O R T H E S O U T H E A S T M O U N TA I N P R O V I N C E118

SoutheastMountain

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119A R C H I T E C T U R A L G U I D E L I N E S F O R T H E S O U T H E A S T M O U N TA I N P R O V I N C E 4 .4

The Southeast Mountain Province contains everytype of building and structure, from quite simpleto very grand. There are frontier cabins, NativeAmerican huts, elegant brick townhomes, metalsheds, and the rustic structures built by the CCC.The best of these structures provide intelligentdesign responses to such factors as culture,climate, topography, and ecology.

Building in the Southeast Mountain Province hashistorically been attuned to climate, and climatecontinues to be a key to designing for sustainability.In a province with hot, muggy summers and cool,wet winters, the climate presents maintenancechallenges. Buildings oriented to catch breezesnot only save energy but are more comfortablefor visitors and employees. Structures can beplaced to avoid or sit sensitively withinwetlands. This will preservenatural areaswhile allowingvisitors toenjoy them.

As summer visitation is very high in thisprovince, cooling and ventilation remain primaryconcerns. Rustic-style structures that featureunhewn logs and heavy stone foundations arecooler. Siting and designing to capture vistasis crucial, as is tucking structures into theedges of forests (or off the crests of mountains)to prevent silhouettes and preserve the viewfrom other points. Designing for durability isvital because of the climate and becauseof concerns aboutvandalism in theseheavily visitedforests.

LANDSCAPE AND ECOLOGICAL

The Southeast Mountain Province includes landsabove the “fall line” or the demarcation betweenthe rushing rivers of the Piedmont and the flat,tidal rivers of the Coastal Province. There aretwo mountain ranges, one plateau, and threeforest types. Early settlers inhabited moistcoves, called hollows, that had rich soils forestedwith hemlock and white pine. Higher-elevationforests include mixed oaks. The highest andmost northern forests are coniferous.

Valleys, rocky ridges, and cascading streamspunctuate these mountains. Because ofthe higher elevation, there is dramatic seasonalcolor change with spectacular autumns. The viewsvary with one’s place in the landscape, fromenclosed in the valleys to open panoramason ridgetops.

The Southeast Mountain Province generally iscool, wet, and high, with some elevations exceeding6,000 feet. Summer temperatures are moderate,but weather swings can be dramatic, with30-degree fluctuations in a single day. The limitedflat land severely restricts building sites. Winterstorms moving in from the west are more likelyto include ice and snow, posing more challengesto heating and maintaining buildings. Soils areshallow with lots of rock and clay.

OVERVIEW: CHARACTER OF THE SOUTHEAST MOUNTAIN PROVINCEBUILT AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

INFLUENCES ONARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER


Grassy mountaintops called balds are aninteresting ecological feature. They may havebeen created through clearing and overgrazingor perhaps were cleared by lightning. In anycase, they remain clear of trees becausemountaintops are too fragile to revegetate.Balds provide rich wildlife and plant habitat.According to the writer Hiram Rogers, balds inthe Smoky Mountains cover less than 1 percentof the landscape but harbor 29 percent of theflora. They contain vistas that are vital tomanage and maintain.

Writes Bill Bryson in A Walk in the Woods:“To climb for hours through cool, dark forestand emerge at last onto the liberating openspace of a sunny bald, under a dome of blue sky,with views to every horizon, is an experiencenot to be forgotten.”

CULTURAL

The culture of the Southeast MountainProvince has informal and “common”antecedents. The early settlers—English, French, German, Scotch-Irish,and African-American—were loggers,subsistence farmers, and frontiersmen.They built simple, vernacular farm-houses and dependencies. Small townsare more typical than larger cities.

Settlement Patterns: Early settlers, movingdown through the mountains from the north,were frontiersmen and subsistence farmers fromGerman, English, and Scotch-Irish backgrounds.They built log cabins and settled in the covessometimes known as hollows. The railroadsallowed settlements and industries to becomeestablished upriver of the fall line that separatesthe Coastal Mountains from the Coastal Plain.Mountain gaps allowed Tennessee and Kentuckyto flourish as gateways to the West.

Indigenous Materials: This was a heavily forestedprovince (and heavily logged), where logs remaineda favored building material into the 20th century.Logs were sometimes left unfinished. The chinkingcould be removed for summer ventilation. Stonewas common, where it could be quarried orcollected in fields.

Rustic Design: The creation of such nationaltreasures as Great Smoky Mountains NationalPark and the Blue Ridge Parkway spread rustic-

influenced design across thespine of this province. Rusticdesign emphasizes the useof natural materials such aslogs and boulders, as well asforms that fit into themountain landscape.

Southeast CoastalSoutheast Mountain

Fall Line

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ECOLOGICAL INFLUENCES

• Exposed geology with rocky ridges.• Highly dissected mountains.• Cool and wet winter climate.• Dramatic temperature swings.• Winter storms that approach from the west.• Shallow soils with rock and clay.

With altitude,temperatures drop and rainfall increases

Anatomy of ridges:• Grassy balds• High, dry slopes pines• Lower slopes oaks• Slash and burn grazing• Wet cove

SUMMARY OF INFLUENCES AND RESPONSES THAT SHAPE THE CHARACTER OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT


• Richer soils in valleys and coves.• Fast-rushing rivers and waterfalls.• Elevations up to 6,000 feet.• Coves forested with hemlock and white pine.• Mixed oaks and hardwoods at higher elevations.• Coniferous forests at higher elevations.• Presence of “balds”—mountain clearings

preserved for habitat and vistas.• Limited flat land that limits potential

building sites.

Upper Piedmont

Ridges and valleys

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CULTURAL INFLUENCES

• Early settlers were subsistence farmers,loggers, and frontier people.

• English, German, and Scotch-Irish settlersimported their vernacular building types.

• Land ownership pattern is private in valleysand public on ridges.

Ridges – Valleys – Ridges –public lands private lands public lands

English stone

SoutheastMountain


Englishinfluence

Rural piedmont

• Logs were a favored building material well intothe 20th century.

• CCC legacy of rustic-style lodges andrecreation facilities is seen.

• Small towns are more common than big cities.• Early rural settlers preferred coves or

hollows as home sites.

CCC rustic

Log cabin

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SITING

• Build within created clearings to preserveexisting vegetation.

• On mountaintops, place structures below thetop of the ridge to avoid structure silhouette.

• On plateaus, place structures at the highestelevation for vistas and breezes.

• Place observation structures (such as viewingplatforms and towers) within the tree canopyand back from edge of ridges.

• Place buildings just above the floodplain invalleys.

Development limited at the top of the ridgesStructure moved off of the higher point

Building siteslimited to toe

of slope Building site

Landscapebuffer

Riparian zone

Observation platform uses local, natural materials

ARCHITECTURAL GUIDELINES FOR THE SOUTHEAST MOUNTAIN PROVINCE


• Site buildings to shelter wind on three sideswhile providing sun exposure on the south sidein coves.

• Place larger buildings in the broader valleys.• Break up expanses of parking by terracing lots.• Connect related buildings with decks and

boardwalks.• Clear vegetation around buildings (but “limb up”

trees rather than removing them) forventilation and protection from insects andsnakes.

• Place structure parallel to contours of thelandforms.

Landscape buffer maintained in riparian zone

Historic development in sheltered covesBranches trimmed up and undergrowth cleared

Lake

River

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MASSING AND SCALE

• Create compounds of several related buildingsrather than one large building to minimizebuilding footprints.

• Break down the scale of large buildings withmultiple forms.

• Reduce building mass by stepping downsloped sites.

Clustering of structures is encouraged

Traditional building cluster


• Create buildings that appear to have grownand evolved through time by combiningdifferent forms, such as shed and gable-styledormers.

• Design rectangular buildings to be sited onan east-west axis; these respond to solarconditions and breezes better than squarebuildings.

Small valley: Hill-top: Large valley:smaller mass minimal mass larger mass

Mass relates to setting

Large building isbroken down in scale

Forms can stepdown a slope

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ROOF

• Design roofs to be the dominant elementof the building.

• Use broad overhangs to create asheltering feeling.

• Complement the angles of landforms bysloping the roof.

• Design the roof pitches to range from6:12 to 9:12; porch roofs can have aflatter pitch than the main roof.

• Avoid A-frames, mansard roofs,or flat roofs.

Predominant roof forms:Gable roof, shed porch

Roof characteristics:• Addition intersecting with main roof• Broad overhangs• Flatter porch• Chimney on end

Additions are shed or gableRoof has broad overhangs


BASE

• Design the base so that it appearsstrongly connected to the ground.

• Build stone bases that seem to grow outof natural stone outcroppings.

• Use solid bases rather than piers or stilts.• Ventilate the base and crawl space with

openings.

Base to take up gradeand provide ventilation

Base up to window sills Where appropriate, base can “grow” out of the stone outcroppings

All stone walls use local stonelaid in local geological pattern

Wall is subservient to roof and base

Strong roof

Wall

Strong base

Strong connectionto ground

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WALLS AND OPENINGS

• Design walls that do not dominate the façadebut instead create a relatively short planebetween the more dominant base and roof.

• Use vertical windows that are either double-hung or casement.

• Install operable, screened windows when possible.• Maximize ventilation with operable windows,

transom windows, and vented roofs and gables.• Use corners that look massive and substantial;

avoid placing windows in building corners.• Integrate skylights within the roof form; avoid

bubble skylights.• Include winter covers for gable openings.• Design porches with high ceilings to allow views

and to let daylight into the building.• Emphasize entries to make them clear and

inviting for visitors.• Avoid sliding doors or jalousies.

Well-defined main entry

Window proportion is vertical

Wall materials

Log Lap siding Board and batten

Double-hung Casement Transom

Window types


All spaces can be vented using:• Vented roof• Gable end vent• High windows/transitions

Characteristics:• Porch is an outdoor room• Keep porch ceiling high for views and light• Wood porch with stone pier• Shed porch ceiling:

Mountains: open Piedmont: closed• Dormer for daylight and venting• Add glass to gable end of building

for daylighting

Windows caninfill betweenstructure

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STRUCTURE

• Express structure by exposing posts, beams,and trusses, especially within shelters whenpossible.

• Use oversized structural elements to conveystrength and permanence.

MATERIALS

• Use materials that look substantial and heavy.• Use indigenous, natural, and locally produced

materials.

Suitable wall materials include:

• Stone laid to reflect local geological patterns,and stone in scale with size of local rocks.

• Horizontal log.• Board and batten.• Wood-lap siding.

Alternate wall materials include:

• Split-face block, if skillfully constructed,as a substitute for stone.

• Concrete, if tinted and highly textured toblend with textures of natural surroundings.

• Cement-fiber siding to match wood.

Avoid:

• Patterned plywood.

Treated, southern pine shake shingles

Composition shingles heavy texture

Standing seam metal

Structure is openly expressed


Suitable roof materials include:

• Treated, southern pine shake shingle.• Standing seam metal in medium tones.• Concrete tile, if it resembles a traditional

material.• Heavy-textured asphalt shingles.

Suitable base materials include:

• Stone.• Textured concrete.• Split-face block.

Avoid:

• Wood, including railroad ties.

Characteristics:• Expressed structure • Natural materials • Strong connections• Wood shake roof• Heavy timber frame

Predominant materials:• Stone base• Standing seam metal roof• Board and batten walls

Passive solar designstrategies used

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COLOR

• Draw color schemes from theimmediate natural landscape,especially rocks and trees.

• Use mid-tone earth colorssuch as brown, gray, andgreen.

• Stains, when used, shouldbe solid, penetrating stainwith UV protection.

• Use off-white paint colorin the foothills of theMountain Province.

• Bright colors may be usedas accents if drawn fromnature, such as wildflowersand lichens.

• Use gable ends that arestained in the mountainsand painted in the foothills.

SUSTAINABILITY

• Use durable, locally produced materials suchas pressure-treated southern pine shingles.

• Minimize painting and staining by usingmaterials that weather or have integral color.

• Use wood from the region—avoid cedar orredwood, for example.

• Consider ground-coupled heat pumps, passivesolar, and other energy-saving heating techniques.

• Ventilate all buildings and rooms, especially inconjunction with passive solar strategies.

• Use operable windows for effective ventilation.• Consider constructed wetlands, sand filters,

and other alternatives to mechanical systemsfor sewage treatment.

• Install porous paving to minimize erosion.• Consider modular buildings that can be taken

apart and stored out of season.• Use daylight for interior spaces.• Minimize disruption of natural landforms and

vegetation when planning for roads, trails,utilities, and structures.

• See the “Common Principles” section in theintroduction of this chapter for morerecommendations on sustainability.

Colors:• Grays and browns of trees and rocks• Greens of leaves and needles


SYNTHESIS

The Southeast Mountain Province has strongpotential to use native materials such asboulders, fieldstone, and rough-hewn logs.These materials can be skillfully replicated orsuggested with modern manufactured materials.Durability is a primary concern because of thehigh visitation to forest lands. Care mustbe taken to provide access to water withoutdisturbing riparian areas and to orchestrateand preserve the long vistas of this province.

Information kioskcharacteristics:• Heavy timber• Exposed structure• Natural materials• Well-organized graphics

Public buildingcharacteristics:• Simple roof form• Simple dormer• Windows contained

by structure• Massive corners• Stone base

Utilitarian/work centercharacteristics:• Adheres to design principles

while recognizing economy• Landscaping provides natural

setting and screening

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Boardwalk characteristics:• Structure curves to preserve vegetation• Minimal site disturbance• Slender structure mimics vegetation

Work or interpretive center characteristics:• Clustered structures• Natural materials• Bases take up grade• Exposed structure

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