An expansive terrace provides a meditation space at this weekend residence and spiritual retreat in the Utah desert, which US firm Imbue Design completed using stone-filled gabions for some of the external walls (+ slideshow).
The home, named Buddhist Retreat, sits atop a rocky bluff overlooking Capitol Reef National Park. It is set within the rugged landscape and surrounded by local juniper trees.

The two-bedroom residence is made up of a pair of intersecting volumes.
The principal section is a long, thin mass that supports an expansive rooftop terrace ? which acts as a "meditation deck".

The architects describe it as "a space that suspends the user in a grand moment of meditation, free and clear of visual and mental obstruction".
After entering from this area, visitors are led downwards to the main rooms.

Related story: Aidlin Darling creates a meditation centre at Stanford University with rammed-earth walls

On the lower level, the studio laid out two patios. Once inside the house, guests are immediately within the main living space, which comprises the kitchen, living and dining functions.

This space features a glazed expanse that occupies the entire end wall of the house. It opens, allowing residents to step outside onto a ground-level terrace.

"The operable glass wall disappears to further blur the line between interior and exterior, function and nature," said the architects.

A secondary volume clad in black metallic s...