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EL RANCHO CHAPARRAL

Located on 70 remote acres of open rangeland on a semi-arid mesa in southern Colorado, the proposed 9,800 square foot facility serves as both a residence and workplace for an extended single family. On a hilltop at 8,500 feet above sea level, the building plan responds to diagonal mountain range and valley floor views while axially centering on a 14,000 ft peak to the north.

Organized around a two-story, enclosed skylit courtyard the house collects solar energy on a long south Trombe wall while using thick straw bale walls to isolate views of and shelter winter winds from the north. Because of its isolated location off the utility grid, the house needs to be as self-sustaining as possible. Accordingly, it incorporates solar hydronic heating in concrete floors; passive solar heating and cooling via the courtyard and Trombe wall; straw bale wall insulation; photovoltaic electricity generation; cistern retention of rainwater; and greywater recycling for the courtyard gardens.

Due to the large size of the house, the long side is held low and the high side is kept narrow, so as to not overly dominate the hilltop; and to create a building shape which recalls the mountain form on which it lies.

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