Architects: Bercy Chen Studio
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Interior Design: Alan Cano Interiors
Builder: Spencer Construction Management
Lighting Design: Recht Lighting
Structural Engineer: Conrad Engineering
Area: 6,118 sqm
Photographs: Bercy Chen Studio
Cascading Creek House was conceived less as a house and more as an extension and outgrowth of the limestone and aquifers of Central Texas. The primary formal gesture of the project inserts two long native limestone walls to the sloping site, serving as spines for the public wing and private wing of the house. The walls and the wings they delineate shelter a domesticated landscape that serves as an extended living space oriented towards the creek below and protected from the torrents of water draining from the street above during sudden downpours characteristic of the area.
The sitting of the boundary walls and building elements was informed by the presence and preservation of three mature native oaks. The roof structure is configured so as to create a natural basin for the collection of rainwater, not unlike the vernal pools found in the outcroppings of the Texas Hill Country. These basins harness additional natural flows through the use of photovoltaic and solar hot-water panels.
The water, electricity and heat which are harvested on the roof tie into an extensive climate conditioning system which utilizes water source heat pumps and radiant loops to supply both the heating and cooling for the residence. The climate system is connected to geothermal ground loops as well as pools and water features thereby establishing a system of heat exchange, which minimizes reliance on electricity or gas.