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Ship of the Desert
Ship of the Desert
Rancho Mirage, CA, United States
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Ship of the Desert
Rancho Mirage, CA, United States
Type
STATUS
Under Construction
SIZE
5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft
BUDGET
$1M - 5M
Designing a house in the Southern California desert is an exercise in cooperating with nature, as much as benefiting from what nature offers in this extreme environment. The need for shade creates opportunities to use shadow as a design element. The requirement of energy efficiency encourages a roof form designed to provide optimum sun angles for solar panels. The house is designed to be 100% energy self-sufficient and off the grid, a primary requirement of the owners. The energy generated by the solar panels will be stored in three large ‘Tesla Wall’ batteries incorporated into the structure.
But it is the serene beauty of the high desert that inspired the architecture. The site is a promontory facing north, 750 feet above the desert floor, with a spectacular view of Mt. San Gorgonio and the Transverse Mountain Range. The plan is long and narrow, conforming to the shape of the property, oriented north-south on the long axis.
From the lower elevation to the east, the house emerges from the landscape as two acute triangular forms sliding past each other. These forms, which seem to be in motion, gave rise to the house’s nickname in the office of “Ship of the Desert.” The southern form is massive and opaque; the mass of the northern form is expressed by muscular piers which frame vertical voids of deep shadow. The interior space defined by these tilting tubes is refreshingly dark and cool at its center, and open on the north and south ends to light and views.
The life of the owners, a retired couple who also maintain a residence in L.A., revolves around the public spaces at the north end. Here a terrace, a fire pit, and part of the pool are shared by the overhanging roof. A monumental steel fireplace separates the open living-dining kitchen space from their shared office.
The master suite is at the south end, which when viewed end-on reveals the smaller form of the bedroom emerging from within the larger form beyond. Beneath the open end of this form is the garage, an important feature of the program for the owners. The garage door appears to be an unbroken 40’ length of horizontal Cor-Ten steel louvers, becoming the gate to the water-filled entrance courtyard at its west end.
But it is the serene beauty of the high desert that inspired the architecture. The site is a promontory facing north, 750 feet above the desert floor, with a spectacular view of Mt. San Gorgonio and the Transverse Mountain Range. The plan is long and narrow, conforming to the shape of the property, oriented north-south on the long axis.
From the lower elevation to the east, the house emerges from the landscape as two acute triangular forms sliding past each other. These forms, which seem to be in motion, gave rise to the house’s nickname in the office of “Ship of the Desert.” The southern form is massive and opaque; the mass of the northern form is expressed by muscular piers which frame vertical voids of deep shadow. The interior space defined by these tilting tubes is refreshingly dark and cool at its center, and open on the north and south ends to light and views.
The life of the owners, a retired couple who also maintain a residence in L.A., revolves around the public spaces at the north end. Here a terrace, a fire pit, and part of the pool are shared by the overhanging roof. A monumental steel fireplace separates the open living-dining kitchen space from their shared office.
The master suite is at the south end, which when viewed end-on reveals the smaller form of the bedroom emerging from within the larger form beyond. Beneath the open end of this form is the garage, an important feature of the program for the owners. The garage door appears to be an unbroken 40’ length of horizontal Cor-Ten steel louvers, becoming the gate to the water-filled entrance courtyard at its west end.
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