Minimal monolith.

Wendell Burnette's own house and studio on the suburban edge of Phoenix is a testbed for spatial and formal experimentation. Stark geometry and raw materials combine in a desert landscape.

Designed for himself and his family, Wendell Burnette's house-cum-studio extends the tradition of the young architect using his own dwelling as a testbed for formal and material experimentation. Burnette used to work in Will Bruder's office and there is an evident kinship with Bruder's frugal geometry and expressive use of raw materials. Burnette is based in Phoenix, and, like Bruder's, his architecture is a response to the harsh beauty of the arid Arizona landscape.

The house is on a quarter acre site of virgin desert, on the edge of Phoenix. Ranch-style houses of various periods litter surrounding landscape. The site rises steeply from the road on its eastern edge, affording distant views to the Phoenix valley beyond. The singular topographical feature is a narrow canyon that cleaves the land in two along an east-west axis. The house is conceived as a linear colonisation of the canyon, providing a metaphorical sticking plaster for the geological scar. The 16ft (5m) wide dwelling is divided into two parts, with an internal court slotted in between, allowing natural light to penetrate along the house's 92ft (28m) length. The court also contains a pool and viewing platform, providing a moment of focus and calm. The lower volume houses a car port, with kitchen and living area above. The larger upper volume contains a studio, bedrooms and bathroom. Set at different levels in response to the topography, the two parts are linked by sets of steps that weave down to the car port at street level.

Parallel rows of post-tensioned cantilevered blockwork panels act as stilts allowing the in-situ concrete slabs to span the house's narrow width, minimising costly site excavation. The monolithic panels are separated by vertical strips of glazing, so that the external wall assumes the appearance of an orthogonal carapace. One of the panels is set beyond the perimeter wall at the point where it screens the internal court. The extruded panel supports a viewing terrace that extends out from the shaded courtyard space. In contrast to the heavy solidity of the masonry walls, the ends of the two component volumes are fully glazed, filtering and diffusing light along the length of the plan. The effect is enhanced by translucent internal partitions.

Where possible, the house relies on traditional passive methods of environmental control. Underneath the studio, the courtyard pool emits water by means of a trough similar to a desert canyon seep. This flows down the slope of the site, creating a cool micro-climate in the internal court and enhancing cross ventilation. High efficiency heat pumps are used to provide heating and cooling during extremes of temperature.

Set against the scrubby desert landscape, the silver-like dwelling has a stark, minimal presence that conceals a luminous, domestic haven. Sitting lightly on the contorted ground, it provides a convincing contemporary interpretation of Modernist values of spatial interpenetration, structural expression and transparency.