Project: Concrete Casita
Architecture Firm and Builder: Ravel Architecture
Architect of Record: Alex Finnell, Devin Keyes and Dan Fields of Ravel Architecture
Location: Austin, Texas, United States
Area: 600 ft2
Photo Credits: Jake Holt
An active family with two kids and a full house needed a versatile solution that could do something for everyone. Concrete Casita by Ravel Architecture is a playhouse, perfect for sleepovers. A media room for kids by day and parents by night. A luxurious guest suite for extended visits from the grandparents. A quiet space to reflect just far enough away. And storage for the necessities: bicycles, camping, climbing gear, gardening tools, and holiday decorations.
Playing off the traditional forms of the surrounding historic neighborhood, this versatile casita anchors the back yard and buffers the busy alley and adjacent multi-family creating a second private yard in back while barely peeking out over the fence or overshadowing the existing home. Made of durable and elemental materials, the corten gable shell encloses a concrete cradle. The interior volume is clad in white oak and contains the bathroom, kitchenette, media center, and pocketing privacy partitions.
What building methods were used?
We used insulated concrete walls for the sides of the building. The concrete walls are actually composed of two separate, four inch, concrete walls with a two inch layer of polyisocyanurate (rigid insulation) in between. The effect is the appearance of a ten inch concrete thick wall but with much better insulating properties than with a solid concrete wall. The insulation acts as a “thermal break”
