ARIZONA RESIDENCE | Majid Sarmast

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
A simple volume hover above the desert, responding to the challenges of a mild sloping site and to an ethic of building with minimal disruption to the natural environment. 

This house is designed as a vessel of personal discovery for a design professional with a passion for modern architecture and family. Gracefully embracing the topographic fold of a desert wash, the house focuses on the northeasterly view of the McDowell Mountains in the distance. With its simple roof and linear form, the house is a sculptural form of terracotta and copper. A large weathered steel vessel for swimming emerges from the natural desert adjacent to a raised marbled platform.

Entry and the primary living and dining experience, a media / music chamber and potter’s studio, are on the main level with the office, a master ensuite and family sitting area above. Cork and concrete floors, wall planes of translucent glass, and cabinets of earth colour and stainless steel articulate the interiors. The lower level entry and passage are conceived as galleries for the owners’ art collection. The stair up to the collective family living space plays against the subtle drama of the angled south façade, to draw you to the desert beyond where the living room takes you to the horizon.