Mexico-based architecture practices, Robert Hutchison Architecture + Javier Sanchez Arquitectos have collaborated and were commissioned to design the Rain Harvest Home (La Casa que Cosecha Lluvia), located in Temascaltepec, in a nature reserve, in the mountains south of Valle Bravo, approximately two hours west of Mexico City. The project was a finalist in the 2022 Simon Living Places Awards.

On-site, as in the surrounding region of Central Mexico, water has become an increasingly precious resource as temperatures rise and populations increase. Although the region sees a robust rainy season, rainwater harvesting is not common; instead, pumping in water from distant watersheds is standard practice. The design, proposed by Robert Hutchison Architecture + Javier Sanchez Arquitectos, takes a different tack, proposing an integrated approach to designing regeneratively with water.
The project designed by Robert Hutchison Architecture + Javier Sanchez Arquitectos combines the program dispersed into three wood buildings that sit gently in the landscape; a main living pavilion (227 m²) and two compact structures separates, an architect’s studio (30 m²), and a bathhouse (62 m²), which integrate with the landscape and the site’s natural cycles and develop an experiential connection to the place.

The project operates off the grid through a 10-kW photovoltaic array and an on-site water treatment and storage system, the trio of buildings each collect rainwater, connecting to a reservoir and on-site treatment and storage system that supplies 100% of the home’s water year-round. The structure makes the most out of the area’s wet and rainy summers and extremely dry winters.

A chemical-free blackwater treatment system treats all wastewater on-site, returning it to the site’s water cycle as greywater for use in toilets, and to irrigate the on-site orchard.

The trails connect the spaces and also serve as bioswales that conduct rainwater to the home’s reservoirs and help prevent site erosion. Bio-agriculture gardens and an orchard on site are designed around syntropic agriculture principles to create a healthy, self-contained food system.

While the main house takes the form of a pavilion that allows for outdoor use year-round and is oriented towards horizontal views out to the landscape in all four directions, the bathhouse inverts this relationship by vertical orienting between sky and water, with four activities: hot bath, sauna, steam shower, and washroom. In the middle of the three structures, a cold plunge pool at the centre and open to the sky.


Rain Harvest Home by Robert Hutchison and Javier Sánchez. Photograph by Cesar Bejar.


Rain Harvest Home by Robert Hutchison and Javier Sánchez. Photograph by Cesar Bejar.
 

Project description by Robert Hutchison Architecture & Javier Sanchez Arquitectos

Casa Cosecha de Lluvia is located in the mountains south of Valle de Bravo, approximately two hours west of Mexico City carefully positioned to enjoy the natural landscape offered by the Xinantécatl Volcano (Nevado de Toluca). Located in a rural development that contains lots for houses and a natural reserve of medium mountain forest, with a hydrological system based on the collection of rainwater through a system of interconnected dams that work by gravity. The objective was to produce a residence that could function independently of the network, through a photovoltaic solar array and a water collection, treatment and storage system; that work in conjunction with a local climate where summers are humid and winters extremely arid.

In this region, similar to other areas surrounding the Valley of Mexico, water has become an increasingly valuable resource as temperatures rise and populations increase. Even when the region experiences a strong rainy season, rainwater harvesting is not a common practice. Instead, extracting water from distant river basins has become the national practice.

The project promotes an alternative route, from a comprehensive vision, which proposes to design regeneratively with the region's natural water and permaculture; establishing a holistic and integrated relationship between people and the ecosystem. In addition to contributing to the restoration of the region's microclimate, the project serves as a testimonial to the potential of rainwater harvesting to create autonomous, off-grid water systems that eliminate reliance on a municipal supply. Above any other environmental component, conserving and improving the quality of water as a limited resource has the potential to drastically improve the sustainability of built environments in Mexico and other regions.

The three pavilions that make up the complex were conceived as porticos whose materiality allows their presence to vanish among the vegetation to experience the landscape. Enjoying the sunny days in the sun, and the rainy days undercover.


Rain Harvest Home by Robert Hutchison and Javier Sánchez. Photograph by Cesar Bejar.

House
A raised foundation of concrete and volcanic stone serves as a platform for the interior and exterior spaces of the house, while the floating roof is supported by a structure of load-bearing wooden walls and a perimeter steel colonnade. The structure is complemented by three skylights directed to the East, West and South respectively, to generate favourable sunlight inside.

Under the portico, two boxes were built: one for services to the North (warehouse, bathroom, pantry, closets, laundry room) and another for rooms to the South. Between the two boxes, a semi-open space is generated to the East and West where the kitchen is located. The program is completed with an outdoor dining room to the East, and an outdoor living room with a fireplace to the West.


Rain Harvest Home by Robert Hutchison and Javier Sánchez. Photograph by Cesar Bejar.

Keyline design
The key line or keyline design (created by P. A. Yeomans in 1954) is a system that allows the use of water and the regeneration of meadows.

It is about projecting the landscape so that the speed of the water is reduced and its rapid infiltration is allowed, without the need to make terraces. Instead, a series of "key lines" are drawn in which trenches are dug that lead the water to some jagüeyes (water reservoirs).

This methodology makes it possible to promote resistance to drought, erosion and flooding. And simultaneously, it improves the construction of soil from the generation of biomass, which also helps to retain moisture in the soil.


Rain Harvest Home by Robert Hutchison and Javier Sánchez. Photograph by Cesar Bejar.

Study
The study offers an emancipated workspace. Its living room offers an open space with a free configuration, complemented by a private terrace that frames the sky and the landscape with its perimeter walls.

Alternatively, the study can be converted into a guest room.

Spa
The spa proposes a poetic dialogue with the natural qualities of water through four perimeter spaces: a thermal bath, a sauna, a steam shower and a sink. In the centre, they surround a cold plunge pool open to the sky, filled with rainwater.

More information

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Architects
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Robert Hutchison, JSa Arquitectura. Collaboration between Robert Hutchison Architecture & Javier Sanchez Arquitectos.
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Project team
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Robert Hutchison & Javier Sanchez, Sean Morgan, Berenice Solis.
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Collaborators
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Structural Engineer.- Bykonen Carter Quinn.
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General Contractor
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Mic Mac Estructuras.
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Area
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Total built: 430 m².
House.- 227 m².
Study.- 30 m².
Spa.- 62 m².
Machine room.- 111 m².
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Dates
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Completed.- October 2020.
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Location
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Temascaltepec, Mexico.
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Photography
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Cesar Bejar, Rafael Gamo, Jaime Navarro.
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Robert Hutchison Architecture (RHA) specializes in the design of contemporary projects that balance beautiful, inspiring spaces with economic, pragmatic solutions. In partnership with clients, consultants, and builders, they seek creative solutions for elegant and efficient architecture. At the core of their work lies an interest in investigating the boundaries of architecture, balancing the permanent with the ephemeral to create works evoking a strong sense of place. Their diverse projects include custom homes and remodels, cabins, art studios, commercial interiors, and institutional and public works. Always striving for a holistic practice, we balance architectural commissions with research, writing, and installation projects.

Robert Hutchison is a practitioner, researcher, and educator whose interests and practice overlap the fields of architecture, art and photography. Hutchison received a MArch degree from the University of Washington in 1996, and BS degree in Structural Engineering and Architectural Engineering from Drexel University in 1990. After working for the Miller|Hull Partnership and serving as a principal of Hutchison & Maul Architecture, in 2013 Hutchison established the architecture studio Robert Hutchison Architecture. Hutchison is an Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington, where he teaches architectural design studios at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He is the recipient of numerous honours and fellowships, including a 2017 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, a 2022 MacDowell Fellowship, a 2024 Loghaven Fellowship, a 2010 and 2021 Japan/US Friendship Creative Artists Fellowship, and the 2009 Emerging Voices awarded by The Architectural League of NY.
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JSa Arquitectura. Architecture studio founded by Javier Sánchez in 1996 dedicated to the reconversion and renovation of the urban fabric. Led by Aisha Ballesteros, Benedikt Fahlbusch and Javier Sánchez, it has a multidisciplinary team in Mexico City and Lima, Peru. With more than 180 projects built in Mexico, South America and Europe, its work covers heritage renovation, cultural promotion, hospitality experiences, sustainable solutions, community and work spaces, and the study of housing. It has received more than 120 awards.

Awarded more than 55 national and international awards and with more than 15 years of experience, it develops projects of various kinds such as houses, homes, social housing, museums, schools, commercial spaces, cultural spaces, offices, mixed-use buildings, public spaces, etc.

Javier Sánchez. Founding partner and director of the workshop. Architect from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with honours (1996), with a Master's in Science and Development of Real Estate Projects from Columbia University, New York (1998). His work has focused on urban acupuncture projects and the recovery of architectural heritage.

His recognitions include the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale (2006) for the Brasil 44 social housing project; the Best New Global Design award from the Chicago Athenaeum (2007) for the Condesa DF hotel; the Gold Medal of the National Biennial of Mexican Architecture (2020) by the MMAC Juan Soriano; and recently, the Housing Award from the American Institute of Architects (2022) for the Casa Cosecha de Lluvia project (in collaboration with RHA).

In 2008 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA); in 2009 he entered the National System of Art Creators of the System of Support for Creation and Cultural Projects (previously known as FONCA); and since 2011 he is a member of the National Academy of Architecture. In 2014 he was invited to give the Federico E. Mariscal Extraordinary Chair at the Faculty of Architecture of the UNAM, in recognition of his outstanding and high level of performance in the architectural discipline.

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