Vincent Snyder Architects

Ottmers House

Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Vincent Snyder Architects

AREA
2200.0 ft2

YEAR
2011

LOCATION
Fredericksburg, United States

CATEGORY
Houses

Ottmer’s House is a 2,200 sqf contemporary home located on an ancestral family ranch in the Texas Hill Country, near Fredericksburg.

Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects
Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects

In keeping with ranching tradition, a young couple with two children of modest means expressed their desire to construct their own home.

The design started from the reuse of a foundation slab located adjacent to an existing vernacular structure.

Following ranching tradition, work on the home is envisioned as a continuous process based on resource availability rather than a finalized object.

Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects
Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects
Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects

For this reason, standardized wood frame construction was interwoven within a series of heavier timber members to facilitate ease of client labor and modification.

Overlooking a pond to the south, a reflective shield of galvanized corrugated metal protects the primary structure and conditioned spaces while creating interstitial zones of outdoor space.

Cutouts and openings in the reflective shield are strategically placed to frame views to the countryside, pond, and vehicular approach.

Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects
Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects
Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects

Through the orientation and form of the reflective shield, the building employs basic principles of passive sustainable design to take advantage of natural daylight and ventilation while controlling solar heat gain.

The primary use of reflective sheet metal, stucco, exposed wood and natural stones found on the site, as well as the shed-like form of the protective enclosure acknowledge the unique material and vernacular precedents of the Hill Country region in a contemporary design.

Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects
Ottmers House


Ottmers House
Site Plan
Ottmers House
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Ottmers House
Plans


Ottmers House
© Vincent Snyder Architects
Ottmers House
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T +1 512 2289245
Vincent Snyder Architects
1711 Briar St, Austin, TX 78704, United States