AIA Santa Fe Chapter
2002 Citation Award

AIA / Su Casa Magazine
2004 Merit Award

The Watts-Russell house sits on 10 acres of rolling grassland dotted with pinon pine and juniper. There are sublime views of the Galisteo Plain and Ortiz Mountains to the southwest and of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the north. The client wanted high ceilings in some areas and a slightly elevated floor level to improve views. Because the house sits on a wide crest of land, the County's maximum allowable building height for the site was 14' above natural grade for a flat roof and 18' for a pitched roof. The house has tow parallel barrel roofs of equal radius. County officials agreed to allow the barrel roofs to have the same height as pitched roofs, allowing for the higher structure as desired by the client. The longer barrel vault covers both the living/dining room and the master bedroom. The shorter vault covers the study and an attic space over the guest bath. The barrel vaults are covered in dull gray bonderized steel with flat seams. This dark, neutral color makes the house less visibly intrusive in the landscape. The end walls of the vaults are stuccoed in a gray color to match the bonderized steel, emphasizing the solid geometric form of the vaults and distinguishing them from the house walls. The vaults are set back from the outside walls behind continuous parapets, further highlighting the distinction between the vaults and the house walls. The client is music producer with acute acoustical sensitivity. The ceilings of the vaults are covered with clear hemlock boards with gaps exposing acoustical insulation for sound absorption. The walls are 14" thick reinforced masonry made of recycled styrofoam and cement. The interior finishes are a combination of natural unpainted gypsum plaster, off-white lime plaster, and gray-tinted gypsum plaster.