Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/118686
Photos: Courtesy, Rex Beasley Still under construction, FountainHead's renegade innovations could set a new standard for sustainable building. is no electricity from the utility company, then there is no water from the well, serving a double purpose by acting as a battery. And the 'stored energy of and if a generator is hooked up to it, it is noisy and vulnerable to fuel outage. the raised water' that was produced earlier in the day is now converted to What I've built is off-the-grid unlimited water, not vulnerable to outside power another form of energy—electricity." There is not enough space here to fully detail some of the other ideas outages, thanks to the pump operating on solar power." Ah, unlimited water…in the desert? Only 10" of rain falls annually in this Beasley is bringing to life at FountainHead: A living area that loats on air, part of the world, often passing in lash loods and not soaking into the ground. turning out to nature or into the main structure. A home theatre that moves To support water percolating into the ground, Beasley has built a series of water from one room to another in seconds. A working ireplace that glides to three paths and natural washes covering seven acres to facilitate the water's travel, different rooms at the push of a button. A lake with sandy beach and aquamarshaling rainwater to soaking ields and a collection pond for later. ponic water puriication linking to the house pool via a 100' streambed and The home has a pool that will empty each evening, so pool parties will solar pumps, and populated with plant life that makes the water drinkable. be dry in that sense. "The pool is for more than recreation," he explains. A 30'-high, 800-square-foot interior tropical garden that sits on the north "It is also a water battery storing potential energy. This will mean no night portion of the home away from the hot southern exposure. swimming but it will save on your energy bills." Here's how this works: the Rex Beasley's vision and enthusiasm are infectious, and when he unveils the water in the swimming pool is released each evening when electricity is no completed home later in 2013, it will represent a lifetime's worth of going against longer being generated by the sun, but is still needed to power the home. the grain. "Architecture has fallen behind the rest of (wo)mankind's evolution," The water will gently low high overhead, from the pool across to the house he writes in an email. "And FountainHead demonstrates this dramatically. This is through a 12"-diameter clear acrylic tube. It will make its way to an open reality. FountainHead may change the world in ways that genuinely matter." stream in the library at the west side of the house, passing through the glass We can only hope. n to the outdoors, and then turning to travel along the west railing of the deck, which hangs high above the desert loor. At the down with leeds? southeastern corner of the deck, the water will be allowed to fall Rex Beasley is creating a highly innovative house that is as gentle as possible on the to the desert loor creating a waterfall. "The water will appear to land. So why does he consider LEEDs certiication—which he seems likely to win with have to vanished into the sand," says Beasley, "however, hidden ease—to be not only unuseful, but "mostly a roadblock"? Search "Beasley" at www. in the desert loor and not visible are turbines, which, when hit wholelifemagazine.com. For more about R.B.'s work, go to www.luidarchitecture.com by the water, spin to create electricity. The pool water is now RexBeasley.indd 29 April/May201329 3/26/13 4:03 PM