Project Details
- Project Name
- Rain Harvest Home
- Location
- Mexico
- Client/Owner
- Lorenia Castillo
- Project Types
- Custom Home
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 3,908 sq. feet
- Shared by
- Madeleine D'Angelo
- Project Status
- Built
- Cost
- $700,000
2020 RADA Winner
Custom House, Less Than 3,000 Square Feet, Award
Rain Harvest Home
Temascaltepec, Mexico
Robert Hutchison Architecture and JSa Arquitectura
A couple of hours removed from Mexico City—whose explosive growth has taxed the region’s fragile ecosystem—Seattle-based firm Robert Hutchison Architecture (in collaboration with local firm JSa) has created a paean to the Mexican highlands that promises to help maintain their natural beauty for years to come. Located in the mountain community of Temascaltepec, and bristling with energy- efficient and waste-reducing features, Rain Harvest Home comprises three free-standing structures—a small art studio, bathhouse, and the residence itself—all connected to each other via pathways that wind through a lush landscape. In tune with the rustic surroundings, each of the volumes sports a burnt-wood exterior giving way to spare interiors accented by volcanic stone, with a wraparound porch on the main house providing ample space for outdoor dining and lounging.
The bathhouse, perhaps the most compelling element of the scheme, is a circular volume that serves as a hot bath and steam shower; with its central rooftop aperture, it seems almost like a small temple dedicated to water—which, in a sense, it is. A complex network of infrastructure provides for all of the project’s water needs, channeling rainfall into an on-site reservoir that, in tandem with a nonpolluting water treatment system, will keep residents cool and hydrated even during Temascaltepec’s dry season. Complemented by a full battery of solar panels, the project shows a way forward for sustainable construction in Mexico’s interior.
PROJECT CREDITS
Project: Casa Cosecha de Lluvia (Rain Harvest Home), Temascaltepec, Mexico
Client/Owner: Lorenia Castillo
Architects: Design Firms: Robert Hutchison Architecture & JSa Arquitectura
Design Principals: Robert Hutchison, AIA, Robert Hutchison Architecture, & Javier Sanchez, HFAIA, JSa Arquitectura
Project Architect: Sean Morgan, Robert Hutchison Architecture
Project Architect (Interiors): Berenice Solis, JSa Arquitectura
Mechanical Engineer: TAF Alejandro Filloy
Structural Engineer: Bykonen Carter Quinn
General Contractor: TAF Alejandro Filloy
Landscape Architect: Helene Carlo
Wood Construction & Fabrication: MicMac Estructuras (Johan Guerrero)
Steel Construction & Fabrication: Rhometal Roberto Chavez
Water Systems Consultant: Miguel Nieto
Solar System: Teoatonalli /Oscar Matus
Kitchen Consultant: Piacere Charly Trujillo
Size in Square Feet: Total footprint: 3908 SF
Cost: $700,000 USD
MATERIALS AND SOURCES
Refrigerator: SubZero IC-36R-LH
Induction Cooktop: Asko HI1975G
Oven: Smeg SF939OX1
Dishwasher: Asko DFI664
Bathroom Fixtures: Stanza, Villeroy & Boch
Cabinets: Arclinea Italia
Ceilings: Exposed Southern Yellow Pine Roof Framing
Concrete: Cast-in-place foundations by TAF Alejandro Filloy
Countertops: Ceasarstone Rugged Concrete 4033
Exterior Wall Systems: 2x6 Wood Wall framing, 1x4 Vertical T&G Southern Yellow Pine Exterior & Interior Siding (Stained), ¼” Southern Yellow Pine Interior Plywood Wall Panels (Clear Finish)
Flooring: Recinto (Volcanic Stone) cut and supplied by Grupo Arca,
Furniture: Exterior wood dining table & chairs designed by Javier Sanchez
Insulation: Walls: Batt Insulation, Roof: Rigid Insulation
Kitchen fixtures: Faucet: Hansgrohe 31815000
Lighting: B.lux, Flos
Masonry and Stone: See Flooring
Metal: Custom designed by architects, fabricated by Rhometal Roberto Chavez
Paints and Finishes: Stained or Clear Finish
Photovoltaics or other Renewables: Teoatonalli /Oscar Matus