North east elevation (obs: Mountain has been partially cut)

South east elevation (front) South west elevation (obs: Mountain has been partially cut)

North west elevation not possible due to mountain.

1 2 7m

Light tunnels

Section A facing patio

Section B and sun angles

Section A facing patio

SECTIONS AND ELEVATIONS

Carl Heintz 2013

Bedroom Bedroom Kitchen and dining M. Bedroom Bath

M. Bath M. Bedroom

Light tunnels

Window and wall detailOBS: The smaller text nd the arrow (>) means door leading to stated room.

DETAILS, PERSPECTIVES AND AXOS

+4.06 m

+3.73

+2.51

+2.07

+1.67

+1.26

+0.08

0

-0.096

-0.73.8 m-0.298 0 +0,09 +0.49 +0.94 +2.91m

Drip groove

Prevents rainwater to drip

into concrete execessivly

Photovoltaic panel

Faces south to optimize sun intake

Railing

Grass-roof

This thickness lets 50% of

the rainwater stay.

Good natural insulation.

Beauthiful and comfortable

Damp-proof membrane

Prevents excess moist

into the concrete.

Gravel

Works as a bu"er and

drainage for excess water.

Damp-proof membrane

Insulation

Jaloussi mechanism

Functions as overhang as

well as it re#ects light.

Makes it easy to choose how

much light and air goes in

EFIS on the outside facade

Insulation on the parts that receieve the most sun.

Placed on the outside of the wall.

Carl Heintz 2013

Patio

Bedroom

M. Bath

M. bedroom

Kitchen & dining

Bath Entry

Bedroom

Bath

Point of entry

Parti

Design phases and process

DESIGN PHASES AND PROCESS

The building has been redesigned several times.

It started with a lot of reading regarding what is optimal for a site like this, dry and very hot.

After going through case studies and a lot of material, I decided to avoid getting into the habit of reasoning that every-

thing can be handled with solar panels. They are getting more and more e"ective but focusing on envelope, direction and

other factors are important parts, probably far more important than the panels themselves, also cheaper.

I quickly decided to do a submerged building.

After that, I realized it would be in line with the environmental concept to make the building a part of the landscape. The

facade is taken from the outlines of the topography but just extended a bit. Green roofs and a lawn will add comfortability

to the site.

Another important issue was overhangs. How much above the window, how far out etc all depends on the elevation and

the angle of the sun at the speci$c place. I luckily found several tools that will be invaluable for the future.

The only problem with this was that it, despite having somewhat curved angles, looked like a box. Therefore I decided to go

with doing something more interesting on the inside. I recently lived in a house with very many di"erent angles and walls.

Instinctively you react negatively to that but then after awhile I realized that it adds character to the building. I wanted to to

do something with that.

Then problems arised with the usage of space, a lot was considered to be sub-optimal and that idea got changed. Again, I wanted to escape from the plain box. I

therefore thought to bring in di"erent heights for the entry, the living room and the kitchen to add depth.

This was not appreciated since it adds complications to the construction. Likewise, other limitations such as building code required retaining walls on the topmost

of the roof (facing northwest) as well as a safety railing on the roof to prevent children etc from hurting themselves.

The last big problem was the stairway and the lawn. To get that working well was challenging since the topography was somewhat awkward, I did retaining walls

and I wanted comfortable stairs, limit the amount of dug-out as well as I did not want to use loads of material.

ergederged dingding.dingdingdingding.dingding.ding

Carl Heintz 2013

The concept of parti-model was new to me

but I found it interesting. I went through 9

m or designs with tunnels, a two-storey

building, trap doors, waterbuckets reaching

through to the second underground level, a

more abstract roof, curved walls. The even

more basic version of this parti was done all

before that and it more or less ended up

exactly as the $nal approach came togeth-

er.

Some elements such as the water re#ecting

light disappeared due to measurements of

the big windows and was replaced by a

jaloussi-window. The same can be said

about decidiuous trees.

Green roof

Light tunnels

Photovoltaic panels

Decidiuous trees (later dismissed)

Green lawn

Water re#ecting light inside

(later dismissed)

Building submerged and

integrated with the mountain

PLAN, SITE AND ADJUSTMENTS

Climate adjustmentSubmerge building Cools the building down by the cooler ground.

Insulation placement Insulated the facade to keep the warm out but not on

the ground letting the mountain cool down the hot inside.

Localization Align towards the southeast to get the most sun band thus

natural light but keep itaway from that strong western sun.

Solar panels Solar panels facing the south on top of roof to bene$t from

the large amount of sun in the area.

Light tunnels Replace the need the light bulbs and let the sun give natural

light through the roof.

Green roof Works as a great insulation as well as it blends in with the

nature.

Footings

Overhang

Start of slope

Light tunnels

Carl Heintz 2013

CSubm

Insu

the

Loca

natu

SolaSola

the the

Ligh

ligh

Gree

natu

Surroundings5 minutes away - Minor city with grocery store

30 minutes away - Phoenix (larger city).

This is a newly developed area starting out with building 10 buildings and if that is a

success, nearby buildings will be constructed along the hill.

Point of entry

ENERGY USAGEPhoto voltaic panels to generate most of electricity to take advantage of the strong

sun. Usage of several light tunnels to replace the need for electricity that takes up

25-35% of the energy usage in a normal household.

These are strategically placed since the frontfacing rooms already have big windows.

To further decrease our need for HVAC we will submerge the building to limit the

exposure for the sun. This will make it naturally more insulated. We will place insula-

tion on the outside of the sunfacing facade to prevent overheating while we will not

insulate the part facing the mountain for it to cool down the building.

Overhangs are used with an angle to let sun in during the cooler winter while the

overhang protects it from the higher summer sun.

Overhang

Light tunnels

Point of entry

N

North america

Arizona

Black Canyon CIty

Plot and surrounding topography

N