Originally conceptualized as a modest and independent accessory structure adjacent to the owner’s main house, the program and plan grew from a simple, rectangular adobe volume designed as a private observatory intended to house the owner’s astronomical equipment and private office, into two contending buildings later connected by a large indoor pool room. The second wing of the plan was added a year after the original design for the observatory had been proposed, and is designed to accommodate recreational spa and gym facilities for the owner’s friends and family.  After the original observatory wing had been located and programmed, the additional program evolved in the form of an opposite wing building intended to enclose a landscaped courtyard adjacent to the main house’s entrance. The later addition of an indoor pool room running perpendicularly between the two wings more fully enclosed the courtyard, turning it into a corral in which circulation and access to the three buildings was granted. 

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The observatory’s original design was conceptualized in the form of a modest tapered torreon, or watchtower, designed to house a retractable 24-inch revolving telescope. As the owner’s requirements grew, so too did the original 1200sf torreon. In order to accommodate a control room to house the owner’s computer servers, a private office, and a large conference and screening room, the torreon was incorporated into a larger structure and more complicated pumice structure.  The observatory torreon later became re-programmed to accommodate only the server room and office, displacing the retractable telescope into another, ancillary building located offsite in the Cerrillos mountains. Thus the requirement to design a telescoping mechanism as an independent 30ft deep siloed pier was alleviated, freeing the torreon to become fully occupiable.