We are a group of architects charmed by the time-honored craft of timber frames. We have interest and experience in traditional mortise and tenon timber framing and modern means of connections. Below are brief examples of some of the varying projects we work on that involve Timber Framing.
The Silver Beach Center was named for the long-lost amusement park in the same neighborhood on the shore of Lake Michigan in historic downtown St. Joseph, Michigan. The center includes the Whirlpool Fountain, the Shadowland Ballroom, the Curious Kids Discovery Zone, and the Silver Beach Carousel. The Silver Beach Carousel in St. Joseph, Michigan, is the product of five intense “design workshops.” Sam Marts Architects & Planners was one of five entities that designed the complex, and also took the lead on the design and development of the structures for the complex, which were largely left exposed as part of the soft-industrial aesthetic, which, happily for us, included timber framing.
The local topography of loess soil created a peninsula of a bluff for this house near Omaha. The land is a classic oak savanna and no trees were lost in situating the house. The volume of this timber frame structure was carved out to create a porch, ballooned up to two stories for a music room, and includes a family-dining room in its heart.
This house is a summer nest for artistic snowbirds. The couple grew up in the neighborhood. They harvested trees from their own property to build this timber house. Seven species of timbers are used through the house to in order to maximize their potential. The spiral growing iron wood post became the central post of the spiral stairs.
