Frank Harmon Designs Contemporary "Cabins" & Pavilionfor Lost Rock Development in Arkansas

Raleigh, NC, June 25, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Frank Harmon Architect, an award-winning firm based in Raleigh, has designed four of the lake-side residences, or “cabins,” and an outdoor pavilion that will comprise a unique, environmentally sustainable development near Beaver Lake, Arkansas, known as “Lost Rock.” Harmon is also serving on the design team that will shepherd the entire project.

Beaver Lake is located in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas. The project is being developed by Lost Rock Ranch, LLC, whose principal is architect Marlon Blackwell, AIA, of Marlon Blackwell Architect in Fayetteville, AR. Blackwell’s firm, along with Harmon’s and Building Studio of New Orleans, LA, are the project’s architects.

At a design/development charette, the team stated the project’s ethos, which includes “enrichment for families through connection with nature;” “responsible, sustainable architecture;” “ unique but not obtrusive;” and “lakeside living for the intellectual and for those who appreciate tactile learning experiences as well as a quiet book on the porch while the sunsets;” among others.

“Lost Rock should be distinctly of the land, emerging from an understanding of the unique qualities of the Ozark landscape,” the team wrote in its vision statement.

Harmon’s cabins range from under 1000 square feet to 1500-square-feet. “These are sustainable residences,” he explained, “so we don’t want to build more than is necessary.”

Constructed primarily of wood and stone, the cabins are designed to be “as unobtrusive as we could make them,” Harmon said. “We also wanted to make the experience for the homeowners’ as close to living outdoors as possible, so at least a third of the square footage of each cabin is devoted to a screened porch. This creates wonderful views and allows the cabins to capture prevailing breezes for natural ventilation.” The largest of the three will also feature a spacious terrace built into the hillside.

Harmon has also designed one of the community pavilions planned for the project. Perched on a hill, it features a large, covered “porch” for overlooking a meadow. Tucked behind the pavilion’s stone façade are kitchen and bathroom facilities.

According to the development plans, all of Lost Rock’s housing sites are being developed in clusters to maintain open space and natural recreation areas. The cabins will be positioned on the sites to protect trees and minimize terracing of the natural slope. Harmon and the other participating architects will design more residences as the project progresses.

Frank Harmon founded his firm in 1985 and has since received more North Carolina design awards than any other firm in the state. He has a history of working on environmentally sensitive projects that blend architecture and landscaping, and in 2005 Residential Architect magazine named Frank Harmon Architect “Top Firm of the Year.”

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