A new Texas house transforms a sloping plot into a multi-layered family home

The Griggs Residence is a new Texas house and family home built to withstand the vagaries of the local climate and deliver a low-energy lifestyle without compromising on spectacular living spaces. Designed by Smitharc architecture + interiors, the team responsible for the recent Greenway House in Dallas, the Griggs Residence is set on a flood plain along a central Dallas creek. That factor defined how the house’s external space was configured, as well as reducing the amount of buildable area on the one acre-sized plot.

Step inside this Texas house

The principal impact this had on the design was topographical; the architects had to ensure the site was sculpted in order to direct any run-off water around the built area, with a combination of elevated structure and robust and almost fortress-like concrete retaining walls that act as a buffer against floods.

Against this backdrop, the architects have created a series of spaces arranged around a central ‘amphitheatre,’ a courtyard that slopes down from the upper level to the pool terrace.

The layout is entirely driven by the lie of the land, with a new land bridge that rises up from street level to meet the upper floor of the house in the middle of the east façade.

Here the structure is solid and impermeable, with a vast white steel bris-soleil shielding the upper-level rooms from the road. The façade itself is clad in blocks of Texas Lueders limestone, with frameless square windows scattered across it.

Beyond the curving entrance lobby, with its striking sculptures, this floor is where the kitchen, dining room and other living spaces are located. You’ll also find the primary bedroom, an expansive suite of rooms that occupies one side of the structure.

Below this are the children’s bedrooms and a guest suite, together with a break-out area, gym and utility and plant rooms. There’s also room for a sizeable garage.

This lower level opens straight out onto the terrace, part of which is shaded by the cantilevered living room above. Six giant V-shaped steel supports support the room above, providing a shady poolside terrace and outdoor dining room.

Throughout the upper level, stone cladding is paired with large expanses of steel framed windows. These are fitted with high-performance insulated glass and the fenestration curves and kinks its way around the upper and lower façades. There’s also plenty of low-energy technology at play, including geothermal heat exchangers and photovoltaic panels on the shallow sloping roof.

Inside there is a neutral palette of materials, offset by bold furnishings and artworks. Grey limestone and bleached white oak flooring provides a simple backdrop, while all the custom cabinetry is formed from walnut, aluminium and white oak. The Smitharc team also undertook all the interior design and landscaping, as well as the architectural design, creating a house with a unified, if eclectic, aesthetic approach.

Smitharc.com