Prat-Valdés House / Raimundo Gutierrez Frías

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Another design strategy was to protect against the western wind and safeguard the privacy of the neighboring properties through a completely hermetic south facade, where only a walkway leading to the main entrance of the house would be considered. On the other hand, the house was designed to be completely permeable through the total glazing of the north and east facades; advantageous orientations in this specific area due to sunlight and natural lighting, and also visually attractive as they would project views towards the sea (north) and a eucalyptus forest (east).The majority of the coatings, both interior and exterior, are made of pine but with a significant contrast in the definition of the tones; light stains were used for the interior and terrace of the house, and black-derived paints for the exteriors.Text description provided by the architects.The plot for which the project was commissioned is positioned in a theoretical second line with respect to the sea, so one of the client's requests was to find visual focal points towards the coast. For this, it was proposed that the entire house be suspended over the natural terrain through a structure of wooden pillars and diagonals, with enough meters to achieve the objective.Structurally, and to support large spans without support, the house was designed with a metal main structure and an interior framework of pine, where the house was projected in modules of 3.20 meters to optimize the use of wood, which comes in that factory length.As a consequence of the elevation of the house, a large habitable space was freed and generated in the entire lower area of the common area and part of the private area at ground level, where a module for storage and laundry was projected, in addition to considering a quincho area with a bathroom to be done in a second stage.It was also determined that the exterior areas be freely accessible and that the house does not interfere with these circulations, so it was devised that it be positioned along and parallel to about 4 meters from the western boundary. In this way, an intentional visual direction of the entire common area of the house towards the sea would also be generated, in addition to connecting it to what would be the main recreational patio, designed in the flattest area of the terrain.As a general plan for the distribution of the rooms in the house, it was decided that the entrance hall would function as a center that distributes and divides the common areas such as the kitchen, dining room, living room, and terrace, towards the north, and the private areas (two bedrooms and a bathroom) towards the south.