When summer is really hot, a Tucson coop with the right angles is still a cool place.

Words: Nadene Hall

This coop sees a lot of very hot days, so it was specially designed to help its occupants stay cool.

It’s in Tucson, Arizona, very close to the US border with Mexico. The region has two seasons: summer and winter, and gets just 300mm of rain per year. Average daily summer temperatures are 37-39°C; in winter, it still averages 18-21°C.

Local architect Gideon Danilowitz volunteered to design and help build the 15m² coop for his local school’s flock.

The challenge was to create a cool summer home for the flock that was easy to construct as no-one had any building experience.

The slats and solid walls are angled to block the harsh summer sun from the south, west and east, but still allow low-angle sun in winter (in NZ, it would face north). It provides a lot of shade but also allows breezes through to keep it cool.

Other criteria were it had to be easy to clean and allow egg collection without going inside and disturbing the hens.

Gideon has the plans (in metric and imperial measurements) for sale on Etsy.

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