In 2013, the client engaged the firm to design a straight-forward and intentional retirement home in rural Mississippi. The owners are avid chefs and enjoy outdoor activities like cooking, biking, swimming and dining. The simple form of the shed profile creates a gable when combined with the projection to the rear which frames the pool. The entry sequence begins with a courtyard that punctures the roof and is framed by the screen porch and carport. The screen porch, rear covered porch and the outdoor dining space extend the interior space for outdoor entertaining. Visitors enter into a gallery which continues outdoors under a deep overhang along the edge of the pool. The linear organization of the interior spaces allows the inhabitants to maintain a visual connection to the pastoral landscape from any room in the house. The location of the dog yard and laundry were integral to the design because of the large rescue animals the owners save. A centrally located storm room with concrete walls and ceiling offers a refuge during storms and doubles as a wine cellar. Clad in galvanized metal, the house reflects the changing colors of the sky and landscape and melds into the tall pasture grass much like the old barns of the region.

Building on that project, and its intentionality, the design team crafted a similarly contemporary, yet rugged, pool house and recording studio for this client. The pool house is a space for writing, recording and entertaining. The site takes advantage of the existing pond, serving as an efficient water source for the home’s geothermal heating and air conditioning system in addition to capturing stormwater runoff from the adjacent buildings and pastureland. However, contrasting the bright, galvalume structure adjacent to it, this pool house expresses itself with bronze metal panels and two scales of corrugation and staining seam. The simple form of the gable speaks to the agrarian and utilitarian architectural context, while reimagining its form with a void over the main entry that creates a second-floor balcony. The linear organization of the interior spaces allows the inhabitants to maintain a visual connection to the pastoral landscape from any room in the house, aided by large full height windows throughout. Two porches provide additional points by which to enjoy the landscape.