Known for its environmentally appropriate architecture, Lake Flato has designed an award-winning house in Cedar Point, Texas, reaffirming the architects’ reputation for sensitivity to context. Respecting the surrounding landscape – dry, flat, and with mostly low-lying vegetation – the house is a simple pavilion with a gently sloping shed roof perched atop an elegant, minimal steel structure. The few solid vertical surfaces are made of Texas limestone, and frame views out through the other sides of the house, which are entirely open (read: no glazing). A shallow pool interlocks with the footprint of the home, further linking the structure to the landscape, and allowing for evaporative cooling. Although there are no designated sleeping quarters, the house has a full kitchen, semi-enclosed bath, storage area, and living/dining space that opens to the pool and landscape beyond.
Images © Casey Dunn