Ranch Operations
Miró Rivera Architects
Program: The operations facility for a private client meets the performance standards of its utilitarian function yet maintains the rigourous aesthetics implemented on each Miró Rivera project. Cautious detailing was required at the office where the structure penetrates the vapor barrier and at the insulated roof of the open shed.
Sustainability: Passive regional strategies are implemented to accommodate for the climate. Other features include low-e glazing, fly-ash concrete, recycled materials, construction waste recycling, passive insect control, and low impact native landscaping.
Job Captain: Under guidance of the architect, I was responsible for construction documents, consultant coordination, shop drawing/submittal review, product/code research, site visits and client meetings.
Ranch Operations presented an opportunity to explore the juxtaposition of simple utilitarian structures against the Texas Hill Country landscape.
Designed with a common 16’ module, the structural layout for the three buildings is identical, leaving manipulation of the skin system as the primary vehicle for meeting the programmatic needs for the project.
The program includes office space and a shop, maintenance vehicle storage as well as general storage.
The steel volumes are differentiated by function as a planar floating roof with detached perimeter walls for vehicle storage, a more opaque enclosure for the storage building, and a perforated volume in the case of the office structure.
The deployment of these three structures in series across the landscape, their white walls contrasting the native ground cover of the landscape, presents a simple strategy rooted in local vernacular tradition for the integration of structures within a larger natural context.
