A RAS Architecture courtyard home opening to a shaded outdoor room

Tucson, Arizona

Homes shaped by light, shade, and place.

RAS Architecture creates homes that respond to the Sonoran Desert and to the people who live in them.

Explore two Tucson homes

Architecture for desert life

A home can make the climate part of its character.

Courtyards, reflected light, screens, and deep shade are more than visual gestures. In RAS projects, they help define privacy, airflow, and the movement between inside and outside.

Each move begins with the environment and the needs of the client.

A narrow courtyard between warm masonry walls in a RAS Architecture home Mercado District Canyon House

Designing with the desert

Three moves, one connected home.

Reflected light

A narrow central courtyard brings indirect natural light into the Canyon House while reducing exposure to harsh desert sun.

Selected residential work

Two courtyards.
Two ways of living with the desert.

The shaded courtyard of the Barrio Santa Rosa Courtyard House

01 / Tucson, Arizona

Barrio Santa Rosa
Courtyard House

A U-shaped plan folds around a private central courtyard. Retractable glass walls connect the home to a shaded yard, while passive solar strategies respond to the Tucson climate.

CourtyardPassive solarIndoor / outdoor
Floor plan published for the Barrio Santa Rosa Courtyard House

02 / Tucson, Arizona

Mercado District
Canyon House

A continuous light well runs through the two-story home like a canyon. Banks of glass, deep shade, and screened openings bring in reflected light while supporting privacy and airflow.

Light wellDeep shadeAirflow
The long canyon-like courtyard at Mercado District Canyon House
Floor plan published for Mercado District Canyon House
Rachel Serra, principal architect of RAS Architecture

Principal architect

Rachel Serra

Architecture in its most fundamental form is shelter and in the most intimate form is home.

Born and raised in the Sonoran Desert, Rachel studied architecture at the University of Arizona and opened her own practice after becoming licensed in 2017. Her work seeks spaces that respond to their environment and to the people they serve.

Begin with the place

Tell us about your site, your needs, and the home you imagine.

Private concept review. This form is intentionally inactive and does not transmit information.

rachel.a.serra@gmail.com520-360-7257Tucson, Arizona