Floating Meditation Pavilion

The Floating Meditation Pavilion is part of a multi-year, multi-phased remodel of a 1960’s house at the base of the Camel Head of Camelback Mountain that is ongoing. This is the only stand alone structure (150GSF) requested by our Clients, one of which is the only daughter of first-generation Hindu parents from India and her husband is from a family of Russian Mountain Jews born along the Caspian Sea north of Tehran. They have two young children and both have a daily practice of Meditation.

The long house and backyard faces south and east to the long northwest-facing camel-head-cliff-face, so naturally an idea slowly emerged to Meditate on a floating trapezoidal deck at an available southwest corner and west end of an existing pool affording Mediation at the end of a long water body facing the rising sun, and the distinctive Praying Monk. Later, the idea evolved into an open-air Pavilion that could be either completely open to the elements with one operable wall / entry door affording multiple degrees of openness or a cave-like space embraced by three solid walls and a roof for rooftop mediation and / or stargazing into the Cosmos. The family’s first dog is named Cosmo.

Slowly, this necessity for daily-year-round Health and Wellness evolved into a backyard Pavilion quite visible from the House, which now afforded the opportunity to play with the range of desert light, to signal sunrise / sunset, the cycle of the day and at times – to become one with the Mountain. This was achieved by cladding the north (house-facing) and southwest elevations with an exterior shade screen of vertical 1″ diameter common copper water pipe coated with Incralac, which is floated away from a continuous dark roofing membrane that entirely wraps and waterproofs the small wood-framed Pavilion structure.