La Victoria

The project responds to the need of creating a new area adjacent to a weekend home for a big family, located in the outskirts of the city of Quito, Ecuador. With the idea of generating spaces for leisure as well as for family gatherings, the new extension includes two wide-open areas connected to each other, one functioning as a family and game room, the other serving as a lounge-dining area with an integrated kitchen. The program further includes service spaces such as bathrooms and storage, embracing a big green patio that serves as a garden for the main house.

The project emulates the natural landscape of the site by adapting the architectural volume to the terrain. From behind the building is barely visible and it does not show its actual size, nor does it interfere with the view from the site to the nearby valleys and mountains. The visual pattern is a determinant factor of the building placement; the volumes are positioned to frame the view as well as possible. Also, the placement corresponds to an east-west axis line to try to take in the natural light.

Although from certain spots on the surrounding land, the project practically disappears, the architectural volume has a height of 4m, and the project creates open areas of 8m width and 20m length. Because of this, a constructive strategy had to be planned to allow these spaces to come to fruition while trying to avoid the placement of columns inside the space that might have divided the open areas or have interfered with the view. The height of the spaces comes from the strategy of dealing with the specific microclimate of the area, which tends to be quite hotter than the weather in Quito city. The placement of the openings in the volumes corresponds to the idea of creating cross ventilation inside the spaces, especially in the lounge-dining area.

Besides the engineering difficulties, the project proposes slanted walls as infill of the architectural volumes, which are an essential esthetic element and correspond to the idea of wanting to bring the mountain shapes near the site to the terrain itself. The project is thought in such a way that the articulation of the spaces does not interfere with the view from the site, which is why the architectural volumes are plain white with pronounced edges and some walls made of exposed concrete to contrast the white. The interior design also follows this program with plain white walls and ceiling that contrasts with grey flooring.

It is worth mentioning that the spaces created can also function as a place for reception events since the project presents open areas as well as staff areas for that complimentary use of the space.

j2ibstudio