Jesus Robles, Dale Rush and Cade Hayes from DUST design build have designed a mountain retreat for a small family of three in Arizona. The home attempts to preserve as much of the land as possible as a way to hold on to the “history and mysteries of the Sonoran Desert.” Users must walk through a dense forest of saguaros, ocotillo and Paloverde trees before seeing the house unfold in the landscape and ultimately arriving at the sculptural entry stairs.
More about the home after the break.
Divided into four zones, the living spaces, the sky terrace, the sleeping spaces and the guestroom, the home is both visually connected and physically divided by a rammed earth wall. The rammed earth provides a good thermal mass and also helps control humidity. Since it utilizes locally available materials, it has little embodied energy and waste, and virtually no side effects associated with harvesting for use in construction.
Each of the four zone can be accessed from the exterior and which provide the opportunity to enjoy the raw desert land as a user moves from zone to zone during his daily routine. The living space functions as a public place of congregation and the heart of the home where the family can entertain dine and relax. The sky terrace can be accessed through a lacy spiral stair tucked deep within the office area. Light filters through the steps and once at the top, the terrace offers an uninterrupted view of the desert. Two sleeping spaces are “reduced to the utmost essence of what they need to be, a simple place of rest” where as the guest room is multifunctional and multifaceted. It serves as a fully functional music recording studio with specially constructed resiliently framed walls and special sound deadening mechanical ductwork.
A thoughtful site strategy situates the home on the site between two existing rock outcroppings. The home’s footprint minimizes cut and fill of the landscape as well as the destruction of the vegetation and microclimates within the site. The design incorporates passive solar design strategies as proper orientation reduces the solar heat gain dramatically. The linear design runs east to west, making the longest facades the north and south and the east and west facades the most narrow in width.
Project Facts:
Category: Single Family Residence
Project Name: Tucson Mountain Retreat
Location: Tucson, Arizona. USA
Site Characteristics: 6.5 acre site in the Sonoran Desert. Lush, raw, enchanting, harsh, rocky, magical, hot, abrasive, beautiful, awe inspiring.
Client: A family of 3
Program: Single Family Residence; 2 bedrooms, guest room/fully functional music playing and recording space.
Zoning Characteristics: Maximum Height: 18’, 40’ Minimum setback from the Saguaro National Monument to the South 50’ Minimum Distance from the top of the major wash protected Rock outcroppings
Construction Systems: Rammed Earth, concrete, glass, commercial grade truss systems, light gauge metal framing, custom casework, water collection cistern, cement and clay plasters
Schedule: Estimated Completion Date – Late 2010
Sq. Ft.
3,634 Interior
966 Covered Terraces
1,186 Entry Steps/Uncovered Terrace
450 Sky Terrace
1,024 Carport
Nice. Shades of Rick Joy, no? (At least, vis-à-vis rammed earth in Tucson.)
Q: Is this the architects’ own home?
looks like photoshop and sketch up – but nice.
Joy rip-off. Boring parti with lack of definitive detail. The thick roof mass (fascia) lacks in skill and execution.
What does the choice of software have to do with anything?
I like this guys stuff. Check out some of the pics on his website. Seems to have quite a craftsman feel for architecture. I look forward to seeing what this guy creates.
thanks zach for pointing out his website. I haven’t put anyone in my favourites for a while.
i think after a while id get tired of that facade
I like the scheme of the plan, but somehow it doesn’t “match” so well the section and volumes.
The guest room is also only oriented north, and I see no connection from living room to bedrooms without going outside. Well the scheme of the plan may be nice, but the plan itself is not.
Ugh; the commentary here is really depressing. One is forced to the dismal and inevitable conclusion that architectural education pushes individuality over substance. Just as every “individual” believes that they are a unique little flower so must every building reinvent the wheel. No architect may quote from another who has, in turn, taken quotations from his peers and predecessors. Sorry, but that is nothing more than an echo of the Internet generation’s onanistic self absorption and historical ignorance.
As for the building, I’d call this straightforward International Style architecture of a discreet quality. There is a monumental quality that seems appropriate for the site.
The one thing I don’t care for are these renderings. If something is meant to be hyperrealistic it seems that it ought to be indistinguishable from reality. Even done well, however, the hyperrealistic rendering style does nothing to encourage the imagination. Done poorly, as in this case, it ends up looking like Second Life.
Why not just make a nice drawing?
Terry Glenn Phipps
Amen!
Agreed…I find myself having to make that point in several converstations. Anything but “the” most cutting edge aesthetic is bashed for being boring or, gosh, reminiscent of something that has already been done.
As for this house, I think its a solid and high quality design. Per the derisive fascia comment from above, I think all I would do is drop the top edge of the gray a few inches – but thats just me. I also wouldn’t call the parti boring as it has a clear and strong conceptual influence and is much different than 99% of houses out there.
I find the hyper-realism distracting only in the interior shots, where the people and furniture seem way too specific for entourage inserts. For all I know, that may be the actual family and their furniture however…
That´s “Paco de Lucía” playing the guitar and he is mirrorded…. the house, average….
At one point I used to get upset of the poor quality of some project shown here and I think Mr David B pointed out that sometimes we can learn from bad project as well
What can we learn from this project? I think as someone else suggested above that even with mediocre project we should make the best presentation possible including well executed drawings, diagrams etc Based on their website I have not desire to see more of their work!
Apart from the discussion going on,
I think the ideas started well on this project, but one simple step was taken wrong.It is easy to read that the project is build up with several closed massive volumes, with open light areas between.
I just wonder why the border of these stone volumes are not 60cm higher then the line of the concrete roof in between them. That would just make a difference…
And truly,
renderings do not work with architecture.
A well perfectionned 2D drawing along with an idea sketch always does the trick.
JDR
yeah…keep on burning guys!
heyyyy
guys you are so talented, cool, hot and morrrre!!
missualot
pretty awesome – appropriate, refined and inspiring!!!
looking forward to seeing more…
Great work. Very simple lines – I love the floor plan, although I’m still trying to figure out how to get to the bedrooms… These guys are doing great work. If there is a hint of Rick Joy in it, you can’t blame them from learning from their past. ;-) Rammed earth, why would build with anthing else in AZ? Can’t wait to see the finished product.
nicely done man, clean and refined approach to a home in such a beautiful landscape,
cheers to the crew, and good luck to you all as you begin construction,
That’s a lot of ramming. Well done design. The plan works well.
great job guys!!! so proud of yall! i think its BEAUTIFUL!
As a UA Architecture Alumni & former resident of Tucson,AZ I do have a few comments:
Simplicity & massing are superb & contrast with natural desert landscape is beautiful…but,even Tucson gets a monsoon season with downpours. Access to bedrooms via exterior ONLY is not a good idea. Should have alternate route. Also, small solatube skylights in ceiling would be nice too.
Finally, Rick Joy is a great Architect, but he did not invent rammed earth architecture.
Renderings seem a little “too real” next to natural background, but even computer renderings can be light,soft, sketchy styles too.
That’s me with the guitar, in case you were wonderin’.
(amazing!)
Tío Juan
This house is amazing and I cannot wait to see it complete. For those of you with the negative remarks, have you ever considered the fact that the client has say so in the design of this house and may want some of these details or lack of.
Great job, Cade. Love the work, creativity, and detail put into this project
Impressive!!! You can design my music/recording studio in the moutains.
too many MC’s, not enough mic’s
regardless of how you design it, how you draw it, how you display it, how you photograph it, how you build it, etc. etc. etc. – there will be critics.
congrats & enjoy
crack that whip – NECK
rumble, young man, rumble
olé, paco!
these guys look like their having some fun, check em out
http://www.dustdb.tumblr.com