Ratna Ling, the “Jewel Crest”, is a Tibetan Buddhist retreat center sited amongst the redwood forests and farmlands of Northern California. At the heart of the complex stands a tall grove of redwoods with a south slope opening to a long view of valleys and ridges.  Between the grove and the view are located the 10,000 sf Healing and Wellness Center and the 5-bed Nyingma Senior Retreat Center. Designed to be zero-energy and zero-water, the two buildings share a field of geothermal wells and a canopy of photovoltaics over the Senior Retreat.

The spa is a series of loosely connected indoor and outdoor tranquility spaces that gather together the private, skylit treatment rooms. Plants and grasses cover the roof, offering habitat to birds and collecting rainwater. Reclaimed redwood, natural lime plaster, reclaimed stone and renewable cork floors work with high-performance glass to keep occupants comfortable and connected to both the earth and the view.  The facility includes six treatment rooms, a teaching lecture room for 60, and multiple tranquility spaces connected to north views of redwoods and to the south deck, hot tub and sauna. Radiant floors with geothermal heating and cooling, solar hot water panels, rainwater collection, and graywater treatment ensure that the building will generate more energy and clean water than it consumes.

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False color luminance map of skylit treatment room