In continuation of our series (see Mitbury, the public house – Where you go to have coffee whilst being surrounded by Nature and the House in ITU – fuse of Brazilian and Italian Architecture) today, I will take you on a journey to the City of Austin… Yeah, the capital of Texas.
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Most people like you know Austin for it’s outstanding food, great live music venues, and its general weirdness see more. However, what many of you do not know about this great city is its relaxed and laid-back character which is often depicted in some of its priceless Real Estate.
There’s a striking project in Austin Texas I am excited to tell you about. I can guarantee that you’ve never seen anything like it before.
As if trying to understand the concept behind this project wasn’t exciting enough, I stumbled on some priceless information that has left me in awe for the last 3 days.
What is it that makes me feel so star-struck about this project?
What is it that makes me feel so star-struck about this project?
This Country-Home project as I love to call it overlooks a well catered lawn. On this lawn, there is a path from the house that leads to a swimming pool, which also leads to a guest cabin, and finally to a boat dock which anchors boats and can serve as your fishing platform.
In other words, this is a Water front property!
Yeah.. that’s the good life.
Listen here 👂👂🏿: I sincerely believe that to enjoy your life to the fullest, your environment must continually immerse or draw your attention to Nature in some way like this Real Estate.
This Particular Project outlines the layout of a residence and its surrounding elements, thoughtfully designed to blend with the natural environment in such a way that it pulls you to enjoy it.
Are you ready???
Let’s go.
What is a Home without a Dramatic Entry?
Driveway
The Driveway is the first feature I want to show you: This driveway isn’t your everyday driveway that just connects you to your car park or garage straight from the main road like the one in the image below, Where’s the fun in it?
If that’s the only driveway experience you’ve had up till now, you are missing out. This driveway is the main inland access route to this property, gently winding through the landscape to approach the house in a way that creates a sense of anticipation. With all the beauties your eyes are fed with, you would acknowledge it was worth the drive when you finally arrive.
Now, what you do when you arrive here depends on one single thing.
Your status!
What is your status regarding this property?
Does your family own this property? If yes, you most definitely would have access to the garage here else, you can park in the AutoCourt.
Auto Courts
When you hear about Auto Courts, what do you think? Auto courts, also known as motor courts, are open areas or spaces designed for the arrival and temporary parking of vehicles near a building or residence. The Auto Court in this project is a designated parking area for guests and visitors.The auto court is integrated into the flow of the space to feel natural. From the Auto Court, you can access the main residence through a door or the outdoor area through a path.
The Courtyard
Having talked about the Driveway and Auto Court, the 3rd feature that I wanted to reveal to show you is the Courtyard: The main house consists of two wings flanking the courtyard and connected by a glass volume. I will talk about the main house later.
From the courtyard, you have visual access to the back of this property. That is; while standing in the courtyard, you have a wonderful view of waterbody on the opposite end of this property.
Haven’t you noticed that there seems to be a connection between extreme wealth and transparency among wealthy people. Seems to me like high net worth individuals love to have visual access in real estate compared to inhabitations of poverty.
i. High Net worth individuals have more "transparent" houses.
ii. Low Net worth individuals have more "Opaque" houses.
Furthermore, as you drive through this driveway, this open Courtyard serves as your drop off point where your car drops you before it goes to park at the Auto Court or in the garage
When you alight, your journey into the main residence starts at this 20 feet high door situated at the entrance.
You won’t believe me if I tell you how intimidating this door is. The average height of a man is 5 feet, 7 inches. Even if you were as tall as Olivier Rioux who is 7 feet 9 inches tall, I 100% guarantee that you will be dwarfed by this door.
If you find your way to the backyard of this residence, you will discover an outdoor space with a path that leads directly to a pool.
For those of you that love to visit pools, hear me out.
It is easy for me to tell that you have been to several pools in your lifetime, Possibly a private pool like the one in your home, or the public pools in hotels or parks or probably high end pools at rooftops. However, I am 99.9% certain that you are yet to visit a pool with direct access to a natural body of water. Just take a look at this, you get to enjoy some artificial water body before the Natural main body of water.
Pool
This pool which is the 4th feature of this Real Estate extends outward from the residence and it is well positioned to take advantage of views toward the river, it offers the owner a serene space for relaxation while enhancing an incredible connection with nature.
One thing you have to note with high net worth individuals is their desire to always give their guests a memorable treat when they come around. Could be for Bragging rights. However, this isn’t for all guests though. You must be valuable to enjoy treats from wealthy people.
Guest House and Boat Dock
From this Pool, this path takes you to the guest house which is the closest structure to the water body. You get to take pleasure in an unobstructed view of nature as well as the privilege of easy access to the Boat Dock where you as the guest can fish, enjoy closer views of the water, watch the water animals play, have a swim and even take a boat ride when you loosen the boat fastened to the anchor. Trust me, you deserve this treat too.
Before I go on to talk about the most important feature of this Real Estate project, I want to highlight a feature building on this site. It is this Bungalow situated closer to the driveway. It also has its own access road linking it to the main driveway and I am tempted to think it is probably an energy station with solar panels on the roof or a building erected for choice projects like most wealthy people love to engage in. I might be wrong but what do you think? Put your thoughts in the comments below.
The Main Residence
Talk about saving the best for the last. The master piece of this whole project is the Residence itself.
It is the very building that demonstrates the laid-back ethos of the people of Austin, Texas. How does it demonstrate this?
It has a central courtyard that is flanked by two wings which are connected by a glass volume.
These flanking wings are partially buried into the topography such that as you approach the residence, it maintains a low-profile: it is laid back like the people of Austin. And as you draw closer, you are enveloped in all of its beauty.
Did I tell you that every unit in this U shaped residence has some significance?
I guess I haven’t yet!
The two wings contain the utility/garage and resting areas respectively.
The first wing which I call the Utility area has the Garage, mechanical, bath, utility, storage and pantry areas.
The second wing which I call the resting area contain in-suite Bedrooms. At the top of this , we have the primary or Masters bedroom.
The glass volume connecting the wings is the public area and contains the Living room which has the fire place, on the opposite end is the media room for some nice cinema time and the kitchen for meal preparation.
From this very Kitchen, you can access the outdoor area for outdoor cooking through a sliding door. This is for some of you that love outdoor meal preparation.. Most of you would not hesitate to grill some beef here……….Licks lips 😋
At the other end of the outdoor kitchen, there is an outdoor relaxation spot immediately adjacent to the media room where you can relax if you ever get bored of staying inside.
Wait a minute! I just saw two things on this project and I am amazed at how I almost missed them.
What are they you might be asking?
They are;
- The perforated roof – This is a classy way of bringing in a touch of the elements; the sun, wind, rain, snow and what have you. From the living room, you can see the top of the trees. Imagine how beautiful starry clouds would be within those square perforated frames. The connection with nature is complete. You get to experience nature in reality, see nature, feel nature, interact with nature. Mental health tells us that connecting with nature benefits our mental health.
2. The thin columns: These columns are purposefully designed to be in the position that they occupy. Though they seem to have the semblance of stilts, they this support 17 feet deep overhang. That is about 5.2 meter in depth. Looking closely at them, they seem to be about 100mm in diameter. I hope I am correct. They are placed around the edges of the perforated roof as well as at the edges of the overhang with little to no obstruction to the view of the river that any resident within this space enjoys.
Still on views.
Have you ever asked yourself why you pick a space, an Airbnb, a hotel room, a bus seat, a seat by the window of a plane etc with more and better views than another with none?
The reason is simple.
It is because Views give us a reduced sense of confinement as well as information regarding weather, time of day and seasonal changes.
A person who is close to a window with a good view and great light input will feel more alert.
Views also increase brain power and reduces mental fatigue.
One thing you might not have noticed is that the views of the Relaxation and Resting areas are open to the water body as well as to the courtyard.
I believe that this was intentionally done to give residents a wide array of views.
The resident is a spectator when he enjoys the views from the indoors and becomes part of the view when he goes out to enjoy and interact with nature.
Point of note, the interior spaces of the living area is lined with art works such that even the living area is in itself an object of spectacle to anyone approaching from outside.
This article cannot end without me revealing some things I really liked about this building project.
To be sincere with you, they are too numerous to mention but I will highlight just a few. Let us see if mine matches with some of the things you like about this building project.
- That I personally love the views and interactivity that this project has with nature is not news anymore. I therefore Skip to the next one.
2. I love the movement on the site and within the residence. Circulation was well thought out. Whether you were dropped up by Uber or any vehicle, you could access the residence via the main entrance door.
If you were parked in the garage, you have access through this door in the garage. If you were coming from the Auto court, you can access the residence through the door closest to the auto court.
If you were outside and you wanted to access the pool or water body, there is a path from the auto court that leads to the outdoor kitchen and dining which takes you on another path to the pool or other destination.
Within the residence, I already talked about the sliding doors which gives access to outdoor and indoor.
However, I want to highlight the Corridors: they are large anterooms where anyone on a destination to a space can temporarily find some solace before reaching that space. They facilitate movement between connected spaces. Furthermore, You would observe that they are straight to the point and sharp at 90 deg thanks to the unambiguous design of Miro Rivera Architects.
3. Thirdly, I also love the materials used on this site. Though they are too numerous to mention. I will be highlighting some of them.
a. The most widely used building material in this project is Weathering steel. Why Weathering Steel if I may ask? Aren’t you also asking the same question? Before I answer why the use of weathering steel, it is worthy to note that weathering steel is used in a variety of ways in this project—as cladding, handrails, chimney, Tree liners, retaining walls etc complemented by treated ash wood.
Once again, I ask Why Weathering steel?
i Durability and Low Maintenance
aa. Weather Resistance: Weathering steel forms a stable, rust-like appearance after exposure to the elements, which acts as a protective layer. This reduces the need for painting or additional weatherproofing treatments, making it highly durable in outdoor environments.
ab. Longevity: Its unique composition allows it to withstand corrosion from rain, snow, and atmospheric pollutants better than standard steel, meaning the material can last for decades with minimal intervention.
Other advantages of Weathering Steel are : Aesthetic Appeal, Environmental Sustainability, Cost effectiveness, structural strength, Resistance to Environmental Pollutants and Architectural flexibility – as a multi-faceted building material.
Furthermore,
The stairs and floors are finished with reclaimed long-leaf pine. You’d also notice that the stairs are bathed in light from a clerestory window above a fluorescent artwork.
Over to the things that I don’t like about this design…
- The layout of the guest bedroom. The placement of the walk in closet doesn’t look right to me… Now, this is just my own opinion. The Designers might have their reasons that I am not privy to. This is me just airing my thoughts here. With the way it was designed, it means that I need to walk out of the bath to reach the Walk in closet before picking up my clothes.
Why not create easy access between walk in closet and bath such that I can change my wears after a nice bath without leaving the space?
Anyways, this is me asking you, what do you think? Let me see what you think in the comment section.
