Concept House, Green House, Healthy Home

Casa Concept is a green idea home, created and designed for the modern multicultural family in the US, by Geraldina Interiano Wise, residential designer. It is located in the heart of City of West University Place in Houston, Texas, and has been in the West University Tour of Homes

The design concept of this green house is to be a timeless yet modern, romantic yet practical, deceivingly simple yet elegant interpretation of the beloved Latin hacienda type, that can accommodate the needs of evolving Latino families, as well as evoque the aesthetic and family values of the culture. Built around a traditional courtyard entry sequence, entering through the timeless zaguan, the house is an exercise in spatial and sensory discovery. Among the strong values that influenced the design is the close interplay of the indoor and outdoor through views, abundance of natural light, courtyards, balconies and terraces that make this modern hacienda a wonderful retreat for the extended family.

Although steeped in traditional handcrafted details and materials, such as red tile roofing, stucco, wrought iron, and hand painted tile, the house incorporates not only the latest finishes and materials from all over the world, but also the latest of modern mechanical and technological systems to advance productivity, energy savings, healthy living, sophisticated design and enjoyment of the home. Electronic Systems such as Homeworks 8 by Lutron are integral to the concepts of modern living, remote management, and future pertinence of this green house.

Among the programmatic spatial components of the house that make this design unique is the home office, with state of the art technology and it’s own exterior access, a pivotal space for this modern producing house. A grandparents’ apartment or second master suite- an accessible suite with separate entrance and its own mechanical and passive system, including cross ventilation into the courtyard for grandparents who prefer ambient air- is a new trend with cultural roots. A third floor media room with bathroom, which doubles as a fully equiped apartment for teenagers and/or elderly caretaker, and walk-in attic for easily accessible storage makes the most out of each space. The grand room-which incorporates dining and living spaces-, with 14 ft beamed ceilings, bar/wine cellar and an ample terrace extension, is a true entertainment space that can be transformed into elegant banquet rooms for family feasts as well as intimate entertaining by outdoor or indoor fireplaces.

The home is a careful synthesis of traditional US construction and Latin construction, with emphasis on technological and mechanical performance. Built on a structural slab, the exterior walls are a sandwich of 2x6 pine cavity walls with 4” CMU (cement masonry unit) cladding and traditional cement stucco finish on CMU, making for uncommonly thick exterior walls for aesthetic purposes, and high temperature and noise insulating values. Most of the exterior materials have been chosen to further the low maintenance requirement for the house, such as clay tile roof which is a lifetime roof, aluminum clad windows with a lifetime finish, double insulated glass for windows and doors for energy performance, stucco over CMU for a lifetime cladding and prevention of wood rot and termites, and cedar as a natural resistant species for any outdoor wood.