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Architects: Ese Colectivo
- Area: 87 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Punto Dos
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Adobe, Ecuaplastic, Trimble Navigation
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Lead Architects: Ese Colectivo
Text description provided by the architects. The Guabo House is a rehabilitation and expansion project of a former social housing dwelling located in Yaruquí, to the east of Quito. The original house consisted of two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a social area within just 25m2. The project extends the house to accommodate a more comfortable social area that reinforces the relationship with the garden and makes the most of the existing structure. The new project was conceived as a home for a family of three people.
The expansion maintains the width of the original dwelling and extends towards the garden; it also maintains the slope of the existing roof and tries not to disturb the vegetation of the garden. In the new social space, a minimal internal courtyard is proposed to preserve an existing guabo tree, serving to separate and distribute between the private zone (original dwelling) and the social zone (expansion). The construction is designed with a eucalyptus wood structure enclosed with bahareque walls, the substructure defines openings, windows, and entrances.
The new roof makes a slight offset to allow light to enter. This offset also creates another structural axis that organizes the kitchen and divides the internal courtyard from the study. The new roof is resolved with a lightweight sandwich system to reduce stress on the eucalyptus structure and extends towards the garden, forming a front porch. This space is laterally framed by bracing pieces of the structure, to the front by a wide screen that offers a view of the garden and the views of Quito along the slopes of Pichincha.
Within the existing structure, the layout is reorganized to provide comfort and spaciousness to the private areas. The single existing bathroom was transformed into two complete bathrooms for the new project. Most of the perimeter walls, roof, and subfloor are retained. The result of the project is an elongated volume where the original construction is clearly distinguished from the expansion.
The original space, dominated by white and enclosed areas, contrasts with the reddish-brown social area. Earth walls, the eucalyptus structure, and wooden finishes create a warm, lofty, and spacious environment. Given the project's orientation, during sunset, the sun passes almost horizontally through the wide screen, reaching the guabo tree and casting shadows of its branches onto the backdrop of the internal courtyard.
