Within the coronary heart of Summerlin, Nevada, Faulkner Architects has designed the Purple Rock residence in collaboration with Idea Lighting Lab as an extension of its pure surroundings. The house responds to the dramatic contrasts of its environment with views of the Las Vegas Strip to the east and the rugged Purple Rock Canyon to the west. The scenic location, mixed with the unforgiving local weather of the Nevada desert, posed distinctive challenges and alternatives that formed the design of the house. The result’s a residence that displays the desert’s stark magnificence whereas providing refuge from its excessive situations.
Located on a three-quarter-acre lot, the home is designed to endure the punishing desert local weather. The winds that sweep by means of the world are relentless, winters are icy and arid, and summers are blisteringly heated, punctuated by monsoon storms. These environmental elements necessitated a design method that prioritizes safety from the weather whereas embracing the great thing about the panorama. On the similar time, privateness and sturdiness have been key issues, resulting in a construction that’s each resilient and refined, minimalist but deeply expressive.
The home embraces a minimalistic design philosophy that echoes the simplicity of the desert. The structure makes use of a subtractive method, carving out a wind-sheltered courtyard on the jap aspect of the property. Right here, an elevated basin of water displays the structure, providing a mirror picture of the dwelling area and subtly referencing the distant skyline of Las Vegas. This integration of water contrasts with the droughty desert, symbolizing the breakable relationship between nature and concrete growth.
The entryway to the house is designed to be an expertise in itself. Guests move by means of a slender opening within the large concrete partitions, which, at eye degree with the basin, attracts the attention to the reflection of the distant metropolis. This threshold results in a shaded and closed hall that ramps as much as a non-public entry courtyard. Open to the sky, this area is softened by a vertical backyard of native desert crops, providing a serene transition from the surface world into the inside of the house. The structure performs as a mediation between the rugged desert panorama and the extra refined and managed surroundings of the home.
The fabric palette of the Purple Rock Home is deliberately restrained, counting on native supplies that join the constructing to its environment. The exploit of domestically sourced sand, gravel, and fly ash to create concrete for the flooring and partitions offers the construction a pure buff hue that resonates with the distant mountains. These supplies have been chosen not only for their aesthetic qualities but additionally for his or her skill to endure the desert situations. Within the intense desert delicate, the concrete takes on a balmy, sunlit tone that adjustments all through the day.
The upper-level sleeping areas are housed inside a framework of perforated weathering metal. This display not solely protects the inside from the solar but additionally supplies a measure of privateness whereas permitting for pure air flow. The perforations within the metal create a dappled impact of delicate and shadow, including a lively high quality to the inside areas because the solar strikes throughout the sky.
In a gesture that additional integrates the home with its environment, over half of the constructed construction is positioned beneath floor degree. This not solely reduces the constructing’s visible influence on the positioning but additionally supplies pure insulation from the acute temperatures. Daylight is launched into these subterranean areas by means of fastidiously positioned openings, a few of that are submerged beneath the water degree of the basin, making a dramatic interaction of delicate, shadow, and reflection all through the day.
The home is supplied with a spread of energy-efficient methods, together with a 45-kilowatt photovoltaic array that powers the house, high-efficiency glazing to scale back warmth acquire, and mechanical and lighting methods designed to reduce vitality exploit. The roof, which is extremely reflective, helps to mitigate the extraordinary desert warmth, whereas the design of the constructing itself maximizes pure air flow and shading.
On the south aspect of the home, a shaded deck extends out from the construction, providing a spot to chill out whereas being shielded from the extraordinary warmth of the desert solar. The deck, which is screened with perforated mesh, additionally serves to guard the home and the vehicles parked beneath from the weather. This considerate integration of shading gadgets and pure air flow methods ensures that the home stays nippy and cozy even throughout the hottest days of summer season.
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