PRESS
Japanese architecture informs design of Minnesota house by Salmela Architect
Jenna McKnight | 8 January 2022
A cluster of wood-clad buildings surround a central courtyard at this Minnesota residence by US firm Salmela Architect that was designed for clients who formerly lived in Japan.
The project, called Fifty-Acre Wood, is located in Stillwater – a historic town located along the St Croix River, just beyond Minneapolis. The house rests on a fifty-acre (20-hectare) parcel, the majority of which the clients granted to the Minnesota Land Trust for permanent conservation.
Dezeen – May 2021
Salmela designs Electric Bungalow in Minnesota for architecture professor
Jenna McKnight | 2 May 2021
American firm Salmela Architect has designed a solar-powered urban-infill house that is meant to demonstrate a new way forward for single-family housing.
Called Electric Bungalow, the project in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was designed for Thomas Fisher, a longtime architecture professor at the University of Minnesota, and his wife, Claudia Wielgorecki.
AIA Minnesota – December 2020
Project name: Electric Bungalow
Commendation for Excellence in Design for Energy
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Client: Thomas Fisher and Claudia Wielgorecki
Firm of record: Salmela Architect
Project partners: Meyer Borgman Johnson (Structural Engineering); Cates Fine Homes (Contractor)
Photo credit: Corey Gaffer
This is a three-bedroom, solar-powered, aging-in-place, environmentally friendly modern house with enough flexibility of form and fenestration to adapt to any lot. In other words, it aims to model a sustainable future for urban neighborhoods.
The jury highlighted this project’s exemplary job fusing sustainability with design, with a focus on reducing the project’s embodied carbon. They also appreciate the whimsical yet intentional fenestration, and detailing that feels modern yet respects the home’s residential context.
Arcitecture MN - June 2020
