This house was built in 2012-13 and is located in a residential neighbourhood called El Venado, a relatively new neighbourhood in the San Pedro de la Paz district, close to the city of Concepción. The family group is made up of a young couple of engineers and their three young children.
The house was conceived as a project with a significant programmatic pragmatism, where all the spaces were optimized and had a specific use, avoiding spaces that were not usable or capricious. On the other hand, the house had an important emotional task in relation to the stage of upbringing and strong family ties in the young group. Thus, this house had above all things, to be able to promote the integral development of its family members.
We thought then of designing spaces that were nicely nourished from the outside inputs with abundant heat from the sun, Be sensitive to the changes produced by the marked seasons of the year in this southern area. Here one can find a well-lit central kitchen, great views towards a changing garden, etc. And internally, a house that although it was not too big, it was sufficiently entertaining and dynamic for the joy and growth of each of its members. We think of the spatial experience of a house inspired by the idea of a nest, “The Nest House”, where the children could enjoy the outdoor patio, the parents could make a small orchard, and also inside, a place that make you feel safe, like a lovely shelter, and that at the same time had particular areas, among them a tool shop, a winter garage, a loggia, a service room with independent access, among others.
For a better design in terms of energy efficiency, the house leaned against the southern wall, thus maximizing the neighbor’s distance from the north and optimizing the surface exposed to the sun’s path and exposure. On the other hand, because the land was small and taking advantage of the conditions and slopes of the lot, we opted for a volume of three levels, organized in elongated plants. In the center, it is configured by a reinforcing concrete structure of rectangular geometry and from which all other auxiliary structures are supported. From this structure, with overhead opening; all the central spaces are organized, all the bathrooms and hard spaces of the house hang to the south and the living spaces to the north. In addition, this volume acts as a body of thermal mass, capable of storing the heat obtained during the day on the north side.
On the contrary, towards the north, the spatial and structural condition changes completely. Here the structure of the house becomes sensitive to the sun, flexible, open and its shape takes a continuous curvature that runs through the terrain from east to west. It is the organic and sensitive side that best collect the heat of the sun, the breezes of the sea and allows these natural stimuli to enter the house throughout its length and during all hours of the day. A metallic structure acts as a support to a large natural filter where it is expected to grow deciduous vines that control these stimuli in the summer and provide shelter in the winter.
Regarding the program of uses, in the first level is located the garage, which is accessed directly by vehicle to the interior of the house to prevent children from getting wet in the winter and also, this is where birthdays would be celebrated in the long winter seasons of southern Chile. Also at this level, there are the most utilitarian areas of housing, for example, the laundry, the boiler room, the pantry, the tool room for Cristian, the room and bathroom service. This side of the house also receives direct sun since it is completely isolated from the hill through an english like perimeter patio where it is also circulated. In the second level, most public areas are located, such as the living room, the dinning room and the kitchen. In the end, the main bedroom is located towards the backyard. In the third level is the the playroom for the kids and also is where all dthe bedrooms for the children are located, all oriented towards the northern sun.