Jim Haefner Photography
This articulated awning is part of an Ann Arbor project designed…
Location: Ann Arbor, Mich.
Contractor: Doug Selby, Meadowlark Builders, Ann Arbor
Designer: Michael Klement, Ann Arbor
The homeowner, a found-object artist and metalworker, wanted to work outside as well as inside the converted car garage she uses as a studio. Architect Michael Klement’s solution allows her to move her work onto the adjacent patio and provides her with weather and sun protection.
The articulated awning — part of a whole-house remodel recognized in the green remodeling category (see “New Model Remodel”) — is not only functional, but is “moveable art,” Klement says. One of the first things guests see when they come up the gravel drive, the awning “sets a tone suggesting ‘something pretty unique is going on here.’” The judges agreed.
Klement’s design echoes the house’s main curvilinear roof. The awning is made of a telescoping nesting array of curved metal roof segments supported on metal frames and attached to articulating structural posts fabricated from recycled telephone poles. The entire assembly is easily raised and lowered using a manual hand crank
. —Stacey Freed, senior editor, REMODELING.
