In this particular situation - a mere 50 feet from the San Andreas Fault - buildings, visitor paths, and sun bathing and soaking elements are carefully situated on minimally graded topography tapping deep underground into a confluence of mineral wells that fill communal and private tubs and rinsing showers adjoining wet treatment buildings. Outdoor spaces are shaped and shaded by buildings and structures strategically placed near Tamarisk, ficus, and majestic palms to create cooler microclimates. Gently see-sawing in plan and section, the serially arranged buildings form a dancing dashed line demarcating the immediate northern horizon of the expanded hotel grounds. Constructed of sand blasted and board-formed tilt-up precast concrete panels with inset Douglas Fir wood windows, trellises, and discrete millwork, they are contemporary primitive huts with embedded environmental controls whose self-similar economies of construction and minimally inflected expression form a calm back drop on which shadow calligraphies dance echoing the energetic graphic choreography of the southerly landscape.​
In this particular situation - a mere 50 feet from the San Andreas Fault - buildings, visitor paths, and sun bathing and soaking elements are carefully situated on minimally graded topography tapping deep underground into a confluence of mineral wells that fill communal and private tubs and rinsing showers adjoining wet treatment buildings. Outdoor spaces are shaped and shaded by buildings and structures strategically placed near Tamarisk, ficus, and majestic palms to create cooler microclimates. Gently see-sawing in plan and section, the serially arranged buildings form a dancing dashed line demarcating the immediate northern horizon of the expanded hotel grounds. Constructed of sand blasted and board-formed tilt-up precast concrete panels with inset Douglas Fir wood windows, trellises, and discrete millwork, they are contemporary primitive huts with embedded environmental controls whose self-similar economies of construction and minimally inflected expression form a calm back drop on which shadow calligraphies dance echoing the energetic graphic choreography of the southerly landscape.