espacio 18 + cueto present a wood cladding house with spatial fluidity in mexico

espacio 18 + cueto’s collaborative project ‘casa once’ has been designed as a tailor-made suite for a young couple who have been looking for a place that would take them away from the urban chaos and create a space of tranquility to enhance their human development. the house is located in a single-family complex in the city of puebla, where the real estate sector has grown dramatically and imposes projects that do not always meet the current and future needs of people. the price of land has increased as a result of this ‘boom’, therefore each time the properties are smaller and more exclusive. the architects have set out their solutions from this starting point to respond and generate a good project contemplating the conditions of the 150 m2 land property and the internal regulations of the community.

all images by lorena darquea

mexican based firms espacio 18 arquitectura and cueto arquitectura‘s scheme starts with exercises of subtractions from the architectural program, finally creating an ‘I’ shaped volume. this layout allows a well thought natural lighting at different times of the year, in addition to crossed ventilation systems, which can be controlled by the user. the perforations in the project result in patios that enables all the areas to have a spatial fluidity, offering green views from any point of the house and introducing the surprise factor. additionally, the limits of adjacency in the back of the property are respected.

the house is located in a single-family complex in the city of puebla

espacio 18 + cueto’s collaborative project ‘casa once’ is developed in three levels. on the ground floor, the social areas are distributed, opening onto the courtyards, where the program is extended and joined by means of glass screens. on the first level are the bedrooms, with views of the sky and an acacia tree, which gives strength to the patio and that in spring will change to a purple color, becoming a major landmark inside the house. finally, on the second level is the entertainment area, services and the roof garden with a panoramic view of the volcanoes.

the materiality is defined by exposing natural wood and black pigmented stuccos

the facade responds to the architectural program, avoiding openings to the street and unnecessary elements. the vaulting allows a light bounce back to the studio, controlling visuals and lighting during the day. the architects have generated, defined and interpreted the materiality through the internal construction regulations, exposing natural wood and black pigmented stuccos. inside, the engineering floor, furniture, carpentry and wooden beams provide warmth, smells, sounds and textures in all spaces. in the bathrooms, the tiles of oaxacan artist francisco toledo allow the project team to introduce an artistic side and to remember another city that has given a lot as architects. ‘casa once’ gathers different qualities that allow an exercise of rational and objective architecture, that responds to a user, a society and a place.

this layout allows a well thought natural lighting and crossed ventilation systems

the perforations in the project result in patios that enables all the areas to have a spatial fluidity

on the ground floor, the social areas are distributed, opening onto the courtyards

on the first level are the bedrooms, with views of the sky and an acacia tree

on the second level is the entertainment area, services and the roof garden with a panoramic view of the volcanoes

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: apostolos costarangos | designboom