The Desert House – Marmol Radziner

August 31, 2009 at 11:31 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | 1 Comment
Tags: desert house, modernism, modular, prefab

This post will be the first of many on a particular interest of mine – pre-fabricated and modular houses.

Architects statement:

The Desert House is located on a five-acre site in Desert Hot Springs, California. The house is oriented to best capture views of San Jacinto peak and the surrounding mountains. The house extends through the landscape with additional, covered outdoor living areas, which double the 185 square metre interior spaces. A detached prefab carport allows the owners to leave the car behind as they approach their home.

Designed for principal Leo Marmol and his wife Alisa Becket, the Desert House was completed in 2005 and is the prototype for Marmol Radziner Prefab. The Desert House employs four house modules and six deck modules, a quantity chosen to suit the wide desert landscape. The climate inspired us to create covered outdoor living areas, and we developed sunshade modules to provide solar protection. Sheltered living spaces blend indoors with outdoors, simultaneously extending and connecting the house to the north wing, which holds a guest house and studio space. By forming an “L,” the home also establishes a protected, exterior environment that includes a pool and fire pit.

The Desert House derives 100% of its power from solar panels, while sunshades on the south and west facades minimize the impact of the harsh summer sun. In colder months, concrete floors provide passive solar heat gain, helping us to make the home sustainable. – Marmol Radziner

To visit the Marmol Radziner Prefab website click here.

the fabrication process in the factory

transporting the modules to site

preparing to lift the modules in to place

Images via Crosby Doe Associates website. To view more click here.

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1. Hey, Pre-fabricated housing can be pretty nice. But I think a lot of people have to get over the word pre-fabricated as when they think of that they would most likely go to some sort of caravan park cabin, or transportable building that schools etc have. I have always had an interest in pre-fab and smart design (ie what Max Prichard is doing with Hickinbotham) something that’s more affordable to the public that won’t have every single house looking the same as the one before it. Maybe I should look into prefab a bit more. I know that Daniel Libeskind has just recently released his take on prefab which is almost as eccentric as the rest of his design, yet no doubt lose the meaning and feeling that lot of his other designs are driven from. It just really has is aesthetic style as seen in the Berlin Jewish Museum http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/6751/daniel-libeskind-pre-fab-homes-the-villa-signature-series.html

Comment by andyvanzant— September 2, 2009 #

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