US architects Bercy Chen Studio LP have based their contemporary home on one of the oldest housing typologies in North America, the Native American Pit House. The site is rehabilitated and the house stands out for its energy efficiency and aesthetic.

 

The project by Bercy Chen Studio LP combines an archaic housing model, the Pit House – excavated in the earth and with a green roof – adopted by some of the Native North American tribes, with modern shapes and materials like glass and steel, to create a light-filled, highly energy efficient home.

Despite the fact that most of the perimeter is sunken, the spaces are well lit thanks to an inner courtyard positioned between the two separate pavilions for the living and sleeping quarters. They open up onto the inner void, which physically separates them, requiring you to go outside to pass from one to the other. This blade of light flows into the pool that completes the composition.