Simple Eco-Friendly Home Perched Above Lake Buchanan, Texas

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Mod Cott was completed in 2008 by the Austin based studio Mell Lawrence Architects. This wonderful compact, metal home is fitted with solar panels that provide all the energy demands for the intermittent use of the house. Rainwater is routed from the roof and collected in a large tank, this water reserve is enough for the household.

This award winning home is located in Lake Buchanan, Texas, USA.

Mod Cott on Lake Buchanan, Texas, details by Mell Lawrence Architects:

“A simple metal volume perched high on a bluff offers targeted views of the lake below. Predominantly oriented to the south, the house’s galvanized metal exterior is punctuated by storefront windows that frame vignette views to the south, east and west.

Inside, a partition wall divides the elongated rectangular interior and supports the loft’s structure, which appears to float above the glazed joist spaces.
Thick fir decking, sitting atop steel wide flange joists, creates both a ceiling for the private area below and the floor for the loft above. Fir boards wrap three sides of the interior as a super-sized wainscoting unifying the stairway, kitchenette and powder room functions.

Thirteen-foot tall double doors echo the oversized wainscoting effect by further expanding the sense of scale and height in the small space.

The doors open to capture the southern view, prevailing breezes, and sounds and scents of nature creating seamless indoor-outdoor connections when desired.

Although it is “on the grid,” its 14 photovoltaic panels collect enough energy to power its intermittent use. Rainwater collected from the roof provides all household water while the xeriscaped landscape requires no irrigation.”