Wanted: Decorative Concrete Rooms with Mountain ViewsA townhouse in the scenic mountains of Sun Valley, Ida., uses decorative concrete throughout to create an atmosphere that's both warm and sophisticated
          Eschewing the stereotype of the typical ski chalet, with its log walls, dark interior and rustic décor, this new townhouse in Idaho's Sun Valley, a popular skiing mecca and arts community, puts a modern twist on the Alpine look by incorporating decorative concrete in almost every room. "The exterior of the townhouse is a stone-clad structure appropriate for the region. Our challenge was to create a more modern interior while integrating it with the character of the building architecture," says Fu-Tung Cheng of Cheng Design, who was chosen by the builder to design and build out the interior of the home. The townhouse is nestled into a mountainside, with beautiful views of Sun Valley and its ski slopes. However, the site limited where windows could be located. Most of the windows are in front of the townhouse, so some rooms receive no natural daylight. Because of this, it was important to use interior finishes that would add warmth and light while reinforcing a sense of structural gravity against the backdrop of the mountainside. "Having seen our concrete work firsthand, both in our Berkeley, Calif., showroom and at Teance, a local tea house full of our concrete designs and installations, the client was convinced that there would be no substituting the sculptural appeal of concrete the way we use it," says Cheng. Balancing the modern with the traditional The color scheme for the interior is predominantly earth-toned, blending neutral beiges with richer brown, charcoal, and green tones. The client selected the hues from the CHENG Pro-Formula Mix color palette. "It is convenient for our client to choose from formulas that are accurate and proprietary at the same time," says Cheng. A mixture of concrete finishes was also used to provide a balance of smooth and textured surfaces. "We altered from ground and polished exposed aggregates to our signature unpolished but mirror-finished Geocrete look," says Cheng. Attention to detail Both bedrooms have fireplace surrounds of integrally colored glass-fiber-reinforced concrete, with fireboxes that use clean-burning ethanol fuel. The surrounds were precast using CHENG NeoMix decorative fiber-reinforced concrete, which Cheng says is easier to use than GFRC because it requires no blending and can be applied more thinly. The fireplace hearths in the bedrooms and great room were site cast using Cheng's proprietary technique for achieving super-smooth and glossy concrete surfaces. In the great room, the dark-gray concrete hearth beautifully complements a custom fireplace surround of 3/8-inch plate steel. All of this attention to detail and finish treatments creates an interior aesthetic that reflects the magnificence of the mountain surroundings. "The project certainly met my goal for a sophisticated interior of a rustic, ski country chalet, without resorting to the usual clichés of peeled logs and deer antler chandeliers," says Cheng. "Needless to say, the client was thrilled with the results." Project Details Submit Your Own Project Photos Read More About Concrete Countertops Return to Concrete Countertop Projects Find a Concrete Contractor 24 Services in 221 Metros -- U.S. and Canada © 1999-2013 ConcreteNetwork.com None of this site may be reproduced without written permission |