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Architects: BAAG
- Area: 360 m²
- Year: 2014
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Photographs:Federico Kulekdjian
Text description provided by the architects. Carrying out the project of a house for a group of Scouts required some previous research of the ways of living, educating, playing and organization these kind of associations have. From the beginning, the project was focused on the search of an inclusive space that would allow both group work and respect for the environment and their surroundings.
The house is organized around a central area that includes yards and voids at double height and conforms the main inner space, a kind of hub that provides a common view and a sort of expansion to all the rooms… The scouts -organized by age groups- work on a series of slabs, in the shape of alternating trays that communicate by means of door-like panels or sliding wooden partitions, which encourage interaction and communication between the different parts of the house. The ground floor is connected with the garden (back yard) by folding door/windows that allows a fluid connection. Every sector of the house has a unique identity with changing qualities that generate a playful, dynamic atmosphere and encourage unlimited articulation and social participation.
Every room has large outward windows and inward wooden partition openings, with convenient cross ventilation in the summer and radiators below the windows that produce heating during the winter. Spaces have direct sunlight and overlook the street or the garden. The large skylight over the central space provides bright illumination inside the house.
A green screen covers the front, back and roof of the building. It consists of climbing plant St John’s worts, pink bignonias, hardy fuchsias and lucerne, among other plants, which are looked after by the children Scouts and grow from planters located on every floor, from the garden and the sidewalk. This screen operates both as thermal insulation and sunscreen, generating shades and brightness that provide a suitable setting for the Scouts’ activities.
The metal mesh -made of welded iron bars- supports the plants and provides general protection. Placed on the wooden frames, it sometimes folds and turns into a pergola for the terrace or filters the sunlight from the skylight. It also acts as a sunscreen, brise soleil or thermal portiere that suggests a natural setting and recreates the spirit of the tree house.
