A spacious house was required with large halls and common spaces to accommodate a large family. In addition, it was necessary to be “open” to appreciate the scenery and receive the lifestyle of the countryside, which it’s common to access from any side from the exterior.
The project proposes a continuum between the park and the house’s interior; only the rooms that require privacy are enclosed, such as bathrooms, kitchen, and bedrooms, with subtle levels of interiority. The idea is to minimize the enclosures so that from anywhere in the home the landscape and life outside can be observed, and at the same time, the maximum amount of natural light can be received.
A glass envelope helps to dilute the boundaries between the inside and outside. From the inside, the park flows through the house to be seen from all areas and at all levels. From the outside the envelope of glass reflects the trees due to the inner walls of wood dyed black to blend into the park, diminishing the impact of the building.
The house is organized around orthogonal axes aligned with the cardinal axes and the main views. To the east, the Andes Mountains; to the west, the “Coastal Mountains”; northward, the pool and barbecue area, and southwards, stables and corrals.
On the lower floor are the common areas, kitchen, and master bedroom, which is what is normally occupied by owners all the time, while on the top floor, two bedrooms for adults with a bathroom between them at one extreme, and two children bedrooms with a bathroom between them at the other side, host guests on weekends.
In the center of the house, a double-height patio illuminates the interior and organizes the program separating the hall and bedrooms on the top floor from the main living room. A bridge connects the bedrooms upstairs and generates three-dimensional visual relations with all corners of the park and house. Each guest bedroom has a balcony that allows expanding the interior, but at the same time provides refuge in a private and intimate exterior connected to the park.
The high degree of transparency of the building, the courtyard, and the double-height balconied circulations generate a multiplicity of three-dimensional visual and physical relations, trying to dissolve and question the boundaries of the interior and exterior.
Project name: Graneros House
Architects: Juan Carlos Sabbagh Arquitectos – http://www.jcsarquitectos.cl/
Location: Rancagua, Chile
Area: 350 m²
Year: 2015
Photographer: Juan Carlos Sabbagh Cruz
Lead Architect: Juan Carlos Sabbagh Cruz
Collaborator: Nicolas Sabbagh Cruz
Structural Engineering: Ingevsa
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