AIA Honor Awards #77Small Projects

2011Marfa, Texas

Program: The client wanted a modestly-scaled retreat that sat lightly on the landscape in a remote site, 20 minutes outside the small arts colony of Marfa, in West Texas. The initial house is a do-all outpost, the first of three modules that are planned for the site. The module arrived complete with an outdoor shed and a fully finished interior and exterior, leaving only utility hookups, decks and prefabricated sun-shielding canopies to be installed on-site.

The architects sought to re-imagine the ideal of luxury based on size, instead looking to leverage the uniqueness of place through effcient multi-use space with simple, elegant detailing. They also concentrated design efforts on the process of producing high-quality work within a modest budget and a geographically challenging location.

Site: 30,000 acres House: 500 SF

MARFA, TX3 1/2 hours to El Paso

9 hours to Austin

+Donald Judd (Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX)

Idea

Little House on the Prairie (Pepin, WI)

30,000 acre Living Room

The house is reduced to a floor and ceiling, the end walls creating a TUBE that locates a nexus on the landscape

DELIVERY DAY photo

More than a Box

The simplicity of the living space and its amenities offer livability and a sense of luxury without detracting from the reason to be there in the first place: respite.Expansive decks promote outdoor living, the glass allows natural cross ventilation, and large awnings that block the intense SW Texas sunshine.

The remoteness of the site created unique challenges to delivering high quality architecture. The Client contracted with the Architect to purchase not only design services but also the actual house - as a product.- prefabricated in a modular factory. This gave the Architects complete control over the process: from concept to completion, and allowed the house to be "plugged in" with all electrical, infloor heating, and final plumbing

items compelte upon delivery.

Process: Prefab

The house is located in the high deserts of Texas and is a minimalist refuge. One room serves as bedroom, kitchen, dining room and living room. The adjacent room is a luxurious bathroom with views of mountains to the north and south. A prefabricated utility shed houses an outdoor kitchen and laundry, leaving the rest of the essentials to the main module.

Plinth as Territory

TRUSS BEARING (T.O. WALL PLATE)

108'-0"

2x2 steel tube attached to 3x3 frame w/ tapped 3/8" bolts, or toggle bolts, or welded

3x3X1/4" steel tube

ocotillo branches attatch to 2x2 steel w/ baling wire

10'-7

1/2

"

4'-6" 4'-6"6" 6"

9 x 12 x 1/4" plate w/ (4) 1/2" lags or through bolts

2x10 Blocking at posts

STEEL FINISH TO BE OXIDIZED

T.O. MAIN LEVEL SUB FLOOR100'-0"

6"

nom

.

12" drop at house bolt to facia w/ (1) 7/16" x 6" w/ flat washers.

1x cedar blocking to clear drip edge

1'-0

"

cap exposed ends

Shelter

Interior

Bathroom Kitchen Living Room

Structure: standard wood frame with simple “framing square” type bolt-on moment brackets to reduce cost, weight, installation labor.

Ceiling height is 8’.

Siding: fibercement panels and trim, painted with an oxidized latex paint with suspended iron filings.

Windows: standard Andersen 8’x8’ sliding doors.

Roof: Epdm rubber, vented.

Heating:The house is heated via wood-burning fireplace, on-demand electric boiler with hydronic in-floor heating located in the bath cabinet. A small 19-seer rated split wall AC unit provides all the cooling needed.

Curtain tracks are integrated into the ceiling/door trim.

Future Communal Living / Bunking RoomFuture Bed/Bath Retreat Initial Outpost

DATASize: the project consists of a 15’ x 35’ house (525 sf of conditioned space) and a 4’ x 15’ shed, for a total of 585 sf.

Cost: modular work and design, $155k. Site costs withheld.

Drawings

N

INDOOR KITCHEN

SLEEPING SITTING

IPE DECK

PREFABRICATED PERGOLAS

PLANTER

CARPORT

LAUNDRY + OUTDOOR KITCHEN

STORAGE

Drawings

South

West East

North