Dancing Light House | Kendle Design Collaborative

Dancing Light House designed by Kendle Design Collaborative, Desert form, indigenous materials, natural light, and mountain views inspire this home. Layered walls of rammed-earth, metal, concrete, and glass create a playful collection of organic forms within a natural desert setting while visually articulating the various functions within.

Photography by © Alexander Vertikoff

The signature feature of this home is its floating roof canopy, the underside of which is comprised of tectonic-like forms inspired by local geology and monsoon cloud formations. More than just sculpture and protection from the elements, this canopy balances the owner’s desire for both grandeur and coziness, starting low within the interior living spaces and raising dramatically towards the 180-degree mountain view. All lighting and mechanical devices are carefully concealed within the fissures of this feature allowing the form and materials to be the focus.
Passive features include interior spaces arranged about a central outdoor atrium, allowing modulation of daylight and breeze to provide natural interior comfort.

Photography by © Alexander Vertikoff

Natural light brings this home to life, seeping in through carefully articulated crevices or reflecting off the strategically located pool, constantly transforming the mood of this home. At times water-reflected light dances across the fractured planes of earth and wood while at other times it provides a Zen-like sense of calm.

Photography by © Alexander Vertikoff

Project Info:
Architects: Kendle Design Collaborative
Location: Paradise Valley, United States
Lead Architects: Brent Kendle
Interior Designer: David Michael Miller
Landscape Architect: GBtwo Landscape Architects
Builder: Desert Star Construction
Area: 5600.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Alexander Vertikoff
Manufacturers: Fleetwood, Bulthaup
Project Name: Dancing Light House