Architects Redesign A Cozy House In The Forest | Ep 22 OPEN PLAN | House Tour

This project consisted of the remodeling of a house in the forests of Valle de Bravo. The client asked us to maintain most of the house. Therefore, the interventions had to be punctual, and the decisions we made were to demolish some walls and open gaps to generate more open and continuous spaces. I'm Maya García, architect of Domestika Studio. The clients acquired this house to share the weekends with their loved ones. Therefore, they required a program that had generous spaces, common spaces that would allow the meeting of all their inhabitants. In our first visit, we found a house that denied itself to the outside world, that denied itself to its context, that did not invite its inhabitants to live and share with each other. Really, the strongest or most substantial intervention of the house was focused on making an expansion on the ground floor in order to gain more space and add to the program a solarium and a guest room. When we arrive at the house, what we see is a demolished volume whose foundation is very defined by the selected material. This material is a tabique that refers to the context where it is located. As a front of the house, we find a landscaping that considers the growth of a plant mass. In addition, the attic is made up of recovered beams from the old pergolas of the house. A lobby welcomes us to lead us to the different spaces. At the bottom of this lobby, we reach the social area, which is made up of kitchen, dining room, living room and solarium. One of the most important interventions of the project was the relocation of the interior fireplace of the house, which originally occupied a lot of space and hindered, and in fact was not used for the location it had. With this new expansion, we had the opportunity to relocate it and give it the necessary importance within the space, that it was the finish of all this social area connected in this space that would call shelter and meeting. From the dining room, the living room and the solarium, we have a direct connection with the terrace through large windows, giving the terrace the opportunity to be the extension of this social area that is the most important within the house. The artisanal tabique is still very evident. We chose this tabique because of its irregular anatomy, its texture, its warm tones that at the same time are neutral and that would also give the house the possibility of reflecting the passage of time. The terrace is mainly defined by a pergola at a great height, which concentrates the spaces of an outdoor dining room, living room and jacuzzi. The idea was that the kitchen was a space that stood out within the rest of the social area. As a coating on the walls of the kitchen, we selected this artisanal mosaic that we found very interesting because it could give the kitchen different views of people, depending on the light that bounced against them. The stone material is a St. Thomas marble that we found on the roofs, and the rest of the kitchen is made up of smoked oak. From the access vestibule on the left hand side, we find a corridor that leads us directly to the first of the three rooms of the house. This is the room of the visit, which has its own bathroom, and because of its orientation, it allows the passage of the first rays of light of the day. Going up the stairs, on the left hand side, we find the two rooms oriented towards the garden and terrace. We decided to keep the walls light so that the interior was the protagonist within the space. The neutral tones and rustic textures were the main criteria within the decoration of the house. On this occasion, we collaborated with Susana Cazares, who was in charge of giving that final touch to these spaces to define pleasant and beautiful atmospheres. On the upper floor, there is a space considered for the family. In it, you can meet, do homework, read, play, or watch movies. To achieve this space, we demolished a wall and expanded the gaps in the facade to allow natural light to pass. The result is a brighter space that frames different views of the forest. This project reaffirmed that by making small interventions such as demolishing some walls to connect spaces and opening gaps to allow natural light to pass and visuals to the outside, we could transform the experience of this house. The most important thing for us is to know that the client has been listened to, has been understood, and today can enjoy a wider, brighter, and more comfortable house. For more information, visit www.subsedit.com