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.
