echegaray by PPAA emerges from mexican hillside as a natural stone

Echegaray residence mimics the rocky mountain

PPAA — Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados — designs Echegaray, a residence that arises from a stone ground in the city of Mexico. Designed ‘to be discovered’ when going up a mountain, the project imitates a rock formation applying solid black stone to its external skin. A wooden pavilion is framed on the top of the structure standing as the more extroverted part of the construction, opening views to the landscape. The housing unit covers a block that contains all private spaces in the lower zones and arranges social areas on the top floor, reaching the crown that provides panoramic vistas of the city. 

all images © Fernando Marroquin

central staircase and skylight arrange Echegaray’s living areas

Echegaray project forms a dark closed volume that houses the private areas representing the stone of the terrain and exposes a light wooden structure on top allowing panoramic views of the city and generating a feeling of openness. The layout of the functional zones deviates from the conventional order of the living program, placing bedrooms on the lowest floor and public areas on the upper volume. The design team arranges the house’s plan around a central staircase and a skylight that brings natural light indoors. Guided by this central structure the circulation between spaces follows a continuous flow that does not intermix social and private rooms. The house applies natural materials throughout while the excavation of the land is minimal. Large retaining walls leave stone formations exposed generating pleasant backdrops in the rooms.

Echegaray residence arises from a stone ground

openings on the ground floor expose natural rock formations

open and social areas are organized on the upper part of the unit

the project applies solid black stone to its external skin

large retaining walls leave stone formations exposed generating pleasant backdrops

the central skylight brings natural light indoors

guided by the main staircase the circulation between spaces follows a continuous flow

the large living room interacts with the natural landscape of the hillside

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project info:

name: Echegaray
designer: PPAA | @perez_palacios_aa

design team: Pablo Pérez Palacios, Emilio Calvo, Miguel Vargas, Marcelino Pacheco, Andrés Domínguez, Jonathan Resendiz, Nancy Estévez, Laura Morales

location: Estado de México, Mexico

photography: Fernando Marroquin | @fernandomarroquint

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom