BUDIC adds pyramidal hipped-roof module to mexican house

mexico city-based BUDIC is an architecture, urbanism and design practice founded by fernando pérez vera in 2006, encompassing a portfolio that includes interior, residential, commercial and corporate projects.for a project located in culiacán, méxico and called ‘house bya’, the client approached the design team with two main requests: one functional and one aspirational. on the one hand, they needed a house that had adequate scale and comfort for a couple whose kids have grown and left the home. but at the same time, one in which they could have a christmas celebration with over 60 guests comprising their extended family. on the other hand, they wanted to live in a ‘french villa’ that took advantage of the privileged location that the site provides on a peninsula.

entrance to the patio at night

using the ‘french villa’ as a conceptual departure point, BUDIC adapted a pyramidal hipped-roof module that is implemented throughout the plan varying in size depending on the hierarchy of the space. this approached allowed for an integrating concept and at the same time, it permitted for continuous and flexible, yet differentiated spaces. this approach fulfilled the restriction from the residential development, where the project is located, to have pitched roofs covered in the clay roof tiles common to traditional mexican residential architecture and it also met the client’s desire to have tall expansive spaces, as the roof measures as much as 7.8 meters in height internally.

lake façade at night

the pyramid as an organizing module was not only employed in plan but in elevation as well, generating the organization of all of the façade’s elements as a series of protruding and detracting pyramids clad in smooth ‘conchuela’ marble in combination with rough marble panels to create a series of contrasting textures. the façade pyramids are then cut to open windows and doors whose edges are delineated by metal frames that integrate LED lighting to highlight the volumes and to produce dramatic effects at night.

the LED lighting highlights volumes at night 

the pyramid motif is repeated in other details in the house, including flooring, doors, and fixed furniture design in order to weave a formal logic through all of the scales of the project. functionally, the plan was arranged very simply in two main wings—public and private—connected by a vestibule that opens up to a garden-patio that overlooks the lake and can be filled with a thin layer of water or emptied to allow for bigger family events. the access to the vestibule is through a closed courtyard shaded by an existing tree.

lake façade and a central patio with water features 

the private volume of the house includes the owner’s bedroom, which is equipped with a bathroom with a jacuzzi that visually blends with the adjacent outdoor pool. it also includes the visitors’ bedrooms on the second floor, accessible through the main stair. the TV room/office acts as the space that marks the transition between the public and private realm.

pyramid volumes on façade

the public wing is conceived as a series of continuous spaces — living room, bar, dining room, breakfast room and kitchen— that can be integrated or used separately. the covered terraces that they connect to on the south façade also act as sun protection and extensions of the interior public space. an additional request by the owners to be able to constantly see and hear their visiting grandchildren from the kitchen—where they enjoy cooking—was solved through the insertion of a game room in a mezzanine that overlooks an expansive double-height kitchen.

main living area under continuous roof

kitchen with double height under continuous roof

mezzanine overlooking breakfast and kitchen spaces 

studio space with an oversized door 

bird eye view of the house location

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edited by: juliana neira | designboom