Water is the sweetest tea in Texas

Texas has a lot in common with Australia. It is a broad land with a very similar population, which is spread thinly across often dry rural lands and aggregated in a few big cities.

And like Australia, it has a big thirst.

So in the same way that Australians always look for ways to minimise water use and maximise water gathering, so do Texans.

This home and pool, dubbed the Cascading Creek House by designers Bercy Chen Studio, is intriguing not so much because it saves water, but for the stylish way it does it.

The water collected for use in the swimming pool, amongst other uses, is in itself an artistic feature of flowing water which can be appreciated rather than hidden away.

The designers say the project was conceived less as a house and more as an outgrowth of the limestone aquifers of the Central Texas geography.

The roof is configured to create a natural basin for the collection of rainwater, not unlike the vernal pools found in the outcroppings of the Texas Hill Country. These basins harness additional natural flows through the use of photovoltaic and solar hot-water panels.

The water, electricity and heat harvested on the roof tie into an extensive climate conditioning system which utilises water source heat pumps and radiant loops to supply both the heating and cooling for the residence.

The climate system is connected to geothermal ground loops as well as pools and water features thereby establishing a system of heat exchange which minimises reliance on electricity or gas.

The design also subtly addresses the social issues of Texan suburbia. The surprisingly low profile of the house in relation to the street offers a critical alternative to the massive suburban homes in Texas.

When entering from the street, you look down on the water-collecting roofs of the house, while the residence presents itself generously towards the wilderness below, embracing nature without overwhelming it.

There is an extended living space oriented towards the creek below and protected from the torrents of water draining from the street above during sudden downpours characteristic of the area.

Each wing of the house terminates with the roof cantilevered from a single column that frees up the exterior walls to be fully glazed, flooding the tall and open volume of the living room with daylight and offering generous views of the pool deck and the wooded silhouettes of the Texas Hill Country beyond.

Bercy Chen Studio LP is an architecture and urban planning firm with design/build capabilities based in Austin, Texas founded in 2001 by partners Thomas Bercy and Calvin Chen, both graduates of the University of Texas at Austin.

For more information go to www.bcarc.com.