Refurbishment is an increasingly common and fundamental practice in contemporary architecture. More than a trend, it represents a crucial strategy for reducing resource consumption and minimizing waste generation, providing clear advantages over brand-new constructions. In the Latin American context, this philosophy stands out for its unique characteristics. It intricately weaves circularity and climate action with local materials, addressing economic challenges while harmonizing Indigenous, colonial, and contemporary influences.
Housing plays a crucial role in this context, where traditional materials and construction techniques define each project's distinctiveness and integrate it into the community's social fabric. Throughout Latin America, regional identities are deeply embedded in refurbishment efforts, ranging from restoring facades and repurposing wood to reimagining the use of demolition waste. The adaptation of spaces in these projects is influenced by their unique identities and geographic conditions, rooted in social and cultural expressions.
Each project presented in this round-up exemplifies how refurbishment can transform spaces, improving the quality of life for inhabitants and adapting to specific climatic and economic conditions. These interventions enhance sustainability and resource circularity, promoting architecture rooted in local history by blending traditions with modern solutions for today's challenges. In this way, they offer valuable insights and inspiration for future architectural proposals.
Hormiga House / Estudio PK - Argentina
Hormiga house is a single-family home where the primary focus of the renovation was to preserve the essence of the existing building while incorporating a lightweight structure that connects the original project with the new intervention. The exposed brick facade remains uncovered to showcase the former construction while above it, the top floor features a white metal cladding, highlighting the contrast between the old and the new.
Refurbishment MR 53 / BLOCO Arquitetos - Brazil
Designed by a former collaborator of Oscar Niemeyer, the house has undergone several changes, including modifications to the windows and door openings, and layers of mortar, plaster, and paint. The new project aimed to recover some materials and aspects of the original concept, primarily the free flow between spaces. The original Ipê (Brazilian walnut) wooden floor was renovated, and the concrete in the interiors was exposed and restored.
Renovation and Expansion of Casa Vila Mariana / entre escalas - Brazil
Having gone through some previous transformations, the house now integrates a new element into the courtyard. This space includes a small pool and a laundry room on the upper floor. The walls were finished with mineral paint in pink tones, and the swimming pool with natural green stone. A new concrete planter was added to contain the existing vegetation.
E_RC / MAPAA - Chile
The project involves the redevelopment of a vacant 30-year-old building, transforming it into a structure of seven apartments. Facing the challenge of integrating the project within a context of continuous “classic” facades, the design team decided to alter the original morphology by enlarging the openings and using a coating manufactured from brick, divided diagonally into four parts to obtain a trapezoidal piece. These pieces were placed in rows arranged one above the other in opposite directions to generate a new texture, reminiscent of the moldings and stucco details of nearby classical buildings. Inside, two types of apartments were designed: studios and larger apartments with two bedrooms.
Volcanes House / Martínez Arquitectos + Fiallo Atelier - Colombia
Situated on a coffee plantation, the existing element of this project is a one-story construction typical of a Colombian peasant house. The space was opened towards the southwest landscape, expanding the house with a cobblestone floor. To maintain the essence of the house, the high ceilings and rustic lattices were preserved. The paint color was changed to a darker tone, providing chromatic unity throughout the space. Additionally, 80% of the woodwork was repurposed from demolition deposits in Bogotá.
Cholan Nests House / La Cabina de la Curiosidad + Marie Combette + Daniel Moreno Flores - Ecuador
Initially designed as a warehouse, the project now serves as a house and a studio. The architectural proposal focused on the roof as a significant opportunity for enhancement. Introducing a lighter roof, the design team utilized metal sheeting, a eucalyptus wood structure, coconut fiber as a thermal buffer, egg trays for acoustic insulation, and chopped cane for extensive coverage and quick installation. This modification increased the ceiling height sufficiently to accommodate two new bedrooms and two loft spaces, utilizing the existing beams while preserving the original walls.
Carretas Renovation / Heryco - Mexico
This abandoned building, originally constructed in the 1990s, consists of three-bedroom apartments with an architecture office on the ground floor. The project focused on its outdated finishes and damaged structural system, which included steel beams and lightweight concrete slabs. Priority was given to structural reinforcement, alongside the addition of terraces for panoramic views. A new facade was achieved using pigmented lime stucco, applied to both the exterior and patios.
La Luz 1126 Apartment Building / Edith Architecture + León Staines - Mexico
Located in a historic district, this housing project is defined by the original building, which distributes circulation on the ground floor to apartments across concrete platforms that rise in half-levels. All the materials are exposed, starting with the structure, composed of columns and concrete slabs. The first level reaffirms the project's foundation through a combination of exposed concrete and the building's original sills, while bricks configure the internal spaces, contrasting the structural elements.
Fuelle Roga House / OMCM arquitectos - Paraguay
Defined as “an old house of almost vernacular characteristics and in quite deteriorated conditions,” the design efforts focused on developing a project that would recycle the house, allowing for some flexibility while fitting within the budget. Due to the adverse and almost dangerous structural conditions, the design team was forced to rebuild from rubble and demolish more than 70% of the construction. However, materials from the demolition were used to shape new elements with new textures and configurations determined by the condition of the material itself.
Recycling Frugoni / Estudio Cabrera - Uruguay
Originally a traditional courtyard house, the building has been transformed into a small complex of three units. While preserving the existing structural scheme and all the load-bearing walls, some elements were demolished to provide natural light and ventilation to the interior units. On the facade, many of the existing openings are preserved but reinterpreted with a different architectural language: a smooth white surface punctuated by strategically placed holes. The intention is to appreciate the thickness of the original wall, which is half a meter. To achieve this, the openings are designed with varying depths.
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Refurbishment, proudly presented by Sto.
Extending the lifespan of buildings reduces cost and environmental impact, avoiding demolition or more substantial interventions in the future. Sto's products for facades, facade refurbishment, crack repair, waterproofing, and concrete restoration systems are used on heritage buildings, adaptive reuse projects, renovations and maintenance of new buildings all over the world. Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.
