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Architects: Richaud Arquitectura
- Area: 265 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Manolo R. Solís
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Manufacturers: Helvex, Kimikolor, Mosaicos La Peninsular, Tecnolite
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Lead Architects: Jorge Agustín Richaud Falcón
Text description provided by the architects. Casa Verde is located in the walled enclosure of the City of San Francisco de Campeche, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. This rescued colonial house has a plot of 2906.26 SQ FT with construction on two floors of 2852.44 SQ FT. The name is taken from the original color of the façade, which the client wanted to keep. The colors of the houses in this area are previously designated by the INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historía), and although they can be changed, they are subject to a specific color palette and its approval. The first two bays of the house were in perfect condition, where the original wooden beams were preserved and only some of the intermediate joists were replaced.
Like the ceilings that were preserved in the pre-existence dating back to the eighteenth century, the original pasta floors are also preserved in the first two bays, standing out for their colorful designs and patterns. All the walls in this area are fully restored with an oxical-based mixture with a natural, unpainted finish, in the first instance to prevent the deterioration of the original masonry walls and help them to perspire moisture, and in the second instance, the natural finish generates a neutral color palette that mitigates and contrasts with the original colorful pasta floors. The third bay was modified to create the transition between the pre-existence that we’ll call the monument and the new contemporary annex.
The transition occurs in two moments; The first is through the kitchen that connects to the large social area, which is contained in a bay with low but original ceilings, so it was decided to preserve them. The original pasta floors are replaced by new green ones alluding to the name of the house and smooth without patterns, this is to generate a transition between the annex with white polished cement floors and the original pasta floors of the monument area. The second transition is through a landscaped portico that connects with a large segmented body of water, which serves as a hallway contained between exposed masonry walls and acts as a natural oasis that manages the link between the master bedroom and the pool of the social area and that flows along the garden.
The Annex, which serves as a large social area, recovers the scale of the large colonial mansions of the time, recovering the height of just over 43.0556 SQ FT high in the larger-scale spaces of the pre-existence and generating a series of porticoes that allude to the central courtyards of the time generated by portals. The monochromatic choice in all the finishes of the annex, using white concrete, cemented pastes, and chukum was chosen to contrast the colorful floors of the pre-existence, but at the same time, they mimic the interior walls based on oxical. It was very important to denote with exposed masonry wall the demarcation between the monument and the contemporary annex and thus be able to identify the two moments.
To access the secondary bedrooms, it is necessary to walk through the different spatial scales of the house, as well as its historical moments, a visually perceptible transition from beginning to end from the access to the first bay. The Monolithic spiral concrete staircases, inspired by the work of Architect Juan O'Gorman, give us access to the bedrooms where the same monochromatic design of the social annex and the holiday home approach is reflected. Rescue of yesterday and merge with the now, respecting the memory of a City that tells its story in its streets and houses.
