The Welcome House is a 1,500 square foot public visitor center serving the Namchak Retreat Ranch, a rural, 8,900-acre ranch dedicated to Tibetan Buddhist practices located on the ancestral land of the Salish, Kootenai and Kalispel peoples of Western Montana. The building includes a reception area, gift shop, and administrative offices and serves as the gateway to Guru Rinpoche Park and the Bodhi House. Two volumes of equal size and shape – one housing public spaces and the other service and administrative spaces – are separated by a glass link that aligns with the central Buddha statue in the garden beyond. The roof extends to cover two porches, one facing north and one south. The simple floor plan and gable roof mirror traditional ranch architecture and the existing buildings on site. The exterior is clad in clapboard siding and galvanized metal roofing common to Montana farmsteads.

The building takes advantage of both low-tech passive design strategies and high-tech systems to maximize energy efficiency. The building is oriented to the south for optimal solar exposure for the rooftop solar