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South Palm Canyon Dos

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The property is situated on a quiet cul-de-sac with a golf course to its rear; one of the initial design challenges consisted in providing privacy and inclusiveness within the existing context. The design solution provides a main volume that holds public spaces and bedrooms and a guest house that open to the site amenities to capture views of the golf course and surrounding mountains. The home is oriented towards the South, in an effort to forestall direct views into the home while capturing surrounding mountain views and allow passive solar strategies. Deep overhangs protect from the harsh summer sun and allow for passive heating & cooling; while operable windows allow for natural cross ventilation.

The massing of the home features a clean horizontal lines with mainly flat roofs.  Contrasting this is an angular high roof in the great room. The form of this roof is created by a parallelogram with a single valley, further accentuated by allowing the opposite corners along the diagonal to extend up and out like bird’s wings. The resulting interior volume is spacious with ridge line views from clerestory windows that filter natural daylight, maintaining privacy.

Street privacy demanded a windowless relationship to the cul-de-sac; however, we felt that a view in and out of the courtyard space would enhance the experience to the eastern mountains and street views into the courtyard’s specimen olive tree. An opening was proposed, and resulted from various studies of apertures on the wall. Further layering the street façade is a steel screen functions as a veil that animates shade and shadow and reveals a snapshot into the site. The material palette consists of durable materials that respond to the desert's ever-changing seasonal demands. The overall design successfully promotes and enhances indoor-outdoor living in a compact and efficient plan.