EC House / AM30 Taller de Arquitectura + Stephane Arriola

Curated by Danae Santibañez

Architects: AM30 Taller de Arquitectura, Stephane Arriola
Area: 385 m²
Year: 2017
Photographer:Lorena Darquea Schettini
Manufacturers: Alpha Black, Evans, Napresa, Silicium Smart

Text description provided by the architects. Situated on the outskirts of the town in a densely vegetated area, the site has a gentle slope with views of the surrounding mountains. Architecture in the area is deeply rooted in tradition, and materials found in the landscape greatly influence the way spaces are built. The EC house embraces these cultural features and adapts them to the needs of a family of city dwellers.

The main objective was to place the house with minimum disturbance to the location while allowing the inhabitants to be in constant interaction with the landscape. Our approach was adapting to the natural elements on site, splitting the program into different volumes and placing them around the existing pine trees.

Three volumes arranged around a circulation core constitute the main house. Designed with spatial richness in mind, the main floor adjusts to the terrain surface and inner patios provide light and ventilation creating atmospheres with unique characteristics. A terraced courtyard functions as a central plaza linking the front and back of the plot, as well as creating a space for interaction between the main house and the guest rooms. Across the main social areas on the ground floor, a visual axis is respected to facilitate communication between spaces.

Hardwood flooring was used to create a continuous surface that extends the public spaces into outer decks reinforcing the interaction with the surrounding vegetation. A metallic formwork was designed to build the stone walls that enclose the volumes, updating traditional building methods and accelerating the overall construction process. Our goal was to bring together the timeless with the modern, the local with the universal, the village and the city into a weekend house in the forest.