Off grid

An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about off grid

Project • By Clayton KorteWineries

Saxum Vineyard Equipment Barn

Located in the Templeton Gap area of West Paso Robles, this simple agricultural storage structure rests at the toes of the 50 acre James Berry Vineyard. Designed as a modern pole barn, the reclaimed oil field pipe structure’s primary objectives are to provide an armature for a photovoltaic roof to reduce the purchase of electric energy for the adjacent Saxum Winery, collect rainfall for irrigating trees and adjacent grazing meadow, as well as to provide workshop space and covered storage for farming vehicles, implements, and livestock supplies.  The photovoltaic system is designed to produce roughly 88,700 kWh per year, with the capacity to take Saxum Winery and the vineyard irrigation wells off-grid.   Photography: Casey... More

Project • By TheLoveTriangleArt Galleries

TheLoveTriangle Gallery

Design collective TheLoveTriangle has designed and completed its off-grid pavilion in Baabdat, Lebanon. The pavilion aims to provide its members with a space for experimentation, exhibitions and art residencies.The designers aimed to create a peaceful space, a gesture that would not compete with the surrounding landscape and would provide a neutral canvas for the artists and exhibitors.therefore, the design of the pavilion was stripped down to a pure and primitive architectural form – a rectangle of 96 sqm (1033 sqft), discreetly nested in a clearing between the pine trees. The structure’s transparent glazing allows for a natural connection with the site.The pavilion sits in a location that was historically used for agricultural p... More

Project • By Campos StudioHousing

Zacatitos 01

This project is the first of a series of desert dwelling prototypes that comprise an ongoing body of research into off-grid living in a relatively extreme climate. All three research sites are located in the remote community of Los Zacatitos, in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The project's four detached buildings and their related exterior spaces are carefully arranged around the contours of a natural bowl on the four-acre site so as to catch prevailing breezes, allow seasonal arroyos to flow freely, and in response to existing granite outcrops and desert flora. Two smaller villas with sleeping accommodation flank the principal living space with a garage / utility structure placed behind these buildings forming an entry court. Each vi... More

Project • By Campos StudioPrivate Houses

Zacatitos 03

Off grid desert dwelling   This project is the third of a series of desert dwelling prototypes that comprise an ongoing body of research into off-grid living in a relatively extreme climate. All three research sites are located in the remote community of Los Zacatitos, in Baja California Sur, Mexico.   Zacatitos 03 was designed as a formal expression of the local construction methodology - concrete-reinforced insulation panel system. The program elements are organized in a linear fashion across the sloping site in response to the orientation sun, direction of local prevailing breezes. The double line of panels was then shifted and laterally accommodate views, maximize ventilation, and protect against solar gain. More

Project • By Campos StudioHousing

Zacatitos 02

This project is the second of a series of desert dwelling prototypes that comprise an ongoing body of research into off-grid living in a relatively extreme climate. All three research sites are located in the remote community of Los Zacatitos, in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Zacatitos 02 is an architectural experiment that fully explores the concept of architecture as a device which mediates one’s occupation and experience of the landscape. It presents a minimal architectural aesthetic wherein interior and exterior blend seamlessly, lightly demarcated by large operable glazing panels. The detail-oriented minimalism evoke and inevitability that is a direct reflection of the frugality and sparseness that is the ethos of this landscape.... More

Project • By Campos StudioPavilions

Zacatitos 04

This project is an exploration of the modernist pavilion in an extreme desert context. The site is a west-facing rocky knoll with distant views of a volcanic mountain ridge to the west and the Sea of Cortez to the south. The organization of the architectural program is used to create a passive solar response to the constraints of a challenging site and modest construction budget. The project utilizes a relatively small building footprint on the steeply sloping site - organizing the public living areas on a series of cascading platforms, shaded and sheltered by a single monolithic rectangular volume that houses the bedrooms above. The circulation corridor on the upper floor features a southwest-facing perforated exterior wall that absorbs... More