Simple criteria guided the design of this residence–configure the house on the site to maximize the views to mountain and city lights and create a passive solar orientation that works in the desert.
The topography was used as a point of departure for the design; the house wraps itself around the highest point of the site and lays as low as possible on the land. The residence emphasizes the integration of man made and nature by using simple rectangular forms reminiscent of the vernacular building typology of the desert. Detached guesthouse and garage volumes dissolve the scale of building into the landscape. Indoor and outdoor spaces are woven together to ground the residence and its occupant in the landscape.
