Red Bluff Residence

A 1400-sf residence located in Austin, Texas near Town Lake. The project touches on architecture as site-specific installation art and as an extension of the landscape. As with many of our designs, influence is often drawn from vernacular precedents of various cultures. While the essence of the project is conversant with a Pit House, the roof form has been largely influenced by the ancient art of origami

The house’s relationship to the landscape both in terms of approach as well as building performance references the oldst housing typology in North America; the pit house. Like a pit house, the house will undergo a 7-foot excavation gaining benefits from the earth’s mass to maintain thermal comfort throughout the year. Such architectural settings create opportunities for maximum energy efficiency using a proposed Integrated Hydronic HVAC system.

The house integrates hydronic heating & cooling, geothermal heat exchange, phase-change thermal heat storage, rainwater collection and a green roof into an integrated system encompassing.