Article source: Alvaro Arancibia + Sebastian Coll

This is a weekend house located on the central coast of Chile, 160 kilometers away from Santiago. The brief was to design a family house that could fit up to 12 people within a hilly site where the sea views are only possible in its highest point. In response to this, one of the main strategies was to rise the house above the surrounding dwellings and maximize the built area at that level, arranging the public programme on top and the private programme on the bottom. Due to the house faces south, the main floor follows a sloping roof that brings light from north and protects the public area from the sunset. Beside it, a lower height volume faces the street, concentrating the kitchen and main services, which are treated with a system of sliding shutters that control the privacy and views from the exterior. This volume does not only work as a buffer zone between exterior and interior but also as a scalar element that conceals the overall size of the house. In terms of materials, intention behind the choice of them was to use rough and cheapest construction systems such as concrete and brick for the core structure and then start dressing the house with finer elements such as glass, timber and steel that could give lightness to the house. These are used in many ways in the upper storey, becoming the flooring, ceiling, staircases, and ventilated cladding, among others.

Image Courtesy © Alvaro Arancibia + Sebastian Coll

• Architects: Alvaro Arancibia + Sebastian Coll
• Project: House CS
• Location: Cachagua, Central Coast, Chile
• Materials and Structure: Reinforced concrete, expanded polystyrene brick, steel and timber
• Area: 350 m2
• Year: 2014

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