Founded in Jackson in 1996, Ward | Blake has been designing custom homes, schools, places of worship and commercial buildings throughout the intermountain West. From the beginning, Tom Ward and Mitch Blake have used a bio-climatically responsible approach. From their lifelong study of architecture, they use fundamental design methods to assure sensitivity to the surrounding environment. They consider how much sun will penetrate the building, which naturally warms and lights its rooms. They study the thermal envelope so that they can reduce heating and cooling of buildings. They ask how large roof overhangs should be to provide shelter from weather. They select building materials that will withstand UV penetration, intense storms and extreme temperatures.
ANYTHING WE HAVE DESIGNED IN OUR PARTNERSHIP IS SUCH THAT IT WILL WITHSTAND TIME AND THE ELEMENTS.
—TOM WARD, WARD | BLAKE
That is not to say that function trumps form. There is beauty in all of Ward | Blake’s work. Tom Ward says that they operate with three pillars of architecture—as art and science—at the forefront: A building must be firm, commodious and delightful. Ward says, “When you enter any home that we have designed, we want an emotional reaction, one of excitement. The place needs to be cool.”
When Ward | Blake opened their firm, Jackson Hole was replete with Old West-style log homes. The principals, nevertheless, insisted on modernist approaches. Mitch Blake says, for instance, “We were among the first in Jackson to integrate sod roofs into homes. The sod allows the house to blend with its surroundings, and it is a beautiful and practical application of sustainability.” The turf changes shades with the seasons, so a home looks different from early spring to summer through autumn. Additionally, sod roofs act as a thermal mass and they slow run- off, which reduces erosion from the soil below the drip line.
Tom Ward and Mitch Blake design buildings to last and to a lovely aesthetic. Ward says, “Anything we have designed in our partnership is such that it will withstand time and the elements. And, we assure that it will have been artfully crafted.”
