The commission was for a second residence in the middle of the forest for a married couple of a sculptor and a psychologist, where they would have a place to receive their two visiting children.
The initial idea of the owners was that this project would be carried out in two phases for an eventual future expansion. Therefore, a regular grid with two levels was proposed to plan an order for the growth of the house. The first stage would be elevated and then the expansion would be done below, at ground level, forming a plinth.
After starting this project in the course of the pandemic, the clients finally decided to transform this house into their first home. Therefore, both stages were built simultaneously.
Given this initial situation, the challenge of the project was to create an architecture different from the existing in the area; functional and warm at the same time, seeking as a premise the direct relationship with the forest, but without losing interior comfort.
For this, a metal structure on concrete cores, allowed to achieve an area “under” the house, which serves as a reception area to protect from the rain. Then, on a second level, a warm and luminous interior is understood as a space of containment and at the same time of contemplation. For this, large sliding panels were opened to a deck facing the trees, the roof was “detached” from the walls on a reticulated beam and its expression was to be light, with the roof beams stacked at the ends.
Three were the main objectives that led us to elevate the house: to avoid humidity, to get more light and to obtain views of the three surrounding areas.
The exterior walls are formed by cypress wood screens, seeking to generate intimacy towards the faces facing the more public exteriors and large expanses of glass towards the interior courtyards, with the aim of letting in natural light. Text description by the architects.
