Ideas Competition Entry

In a time of intensifying environmental pressures and cultural transformation, Desert Skin proposes a new domestic model rooted in innovation, ecology and place. Developed for a plot in the UAE, the project envisages a house for the future that not only adapts to changing climates and evolving living patterns but redefines the very process of how we build. Addressing this challenge with a bold yet grounded response, it is a dwelling that speaks to the future through the language of place.

The design emerges from a simple yet radical gesture: to build with what is already underfoot. Using locally sourced desert sand as its primary material, the house is constructed through 3D printing, utilising mobile binder jetting technology. Roughly 150 unique building blocks are fabricated directly on-site using a compact machine housed in a shipping container. These sand-printed components are not cladding or ornament; they are structure, envelope, shading and identity combined into one system. The result is a home that is materially honest, construction-efficient, and deeply expressive of its context.

The design proposes a three bedroom home, with the flexibility to expand with another three bedrooms for family growth. With an inner shaded courtyard, it offers refuge from the long hot summer months and invites the family to spend time together in privacy and comfort.