Borrero House

In this context, we were commissioned to design a single family house, described as "traditional" by our clients. It was to accommodate an extremely compartmentalized plan that included a free-standing garage and the desire to have the home be a single story building on a given 7 x 40-meter plot. This was again a good opportunity to approach these contingencies with a certain level of critical pragmatism, as we often term our approach, beyond the cliches that we all bring to the design table.

We decide to use that traditional concept as applied to the pure construction of it, using a system of loadbearing brick walls parallels to the façade, a traditional system we do not typically use. This bearing wall system allows us to turn the tide, and to transfer the main façade from the short length to the long side of 40 meters. One single Family House, with a single space in between bearing walls, and covered by a single pitch roof spanning from 6,5 to 7,5 meter along the 40 meters length. The residential program is displayed along with rooms aligned to the new main façade, whilst the garage occupies the former main façade, at the opposite side of an intermediate courtyard that serves as the main entrance. Although it was necessary to split the garage from the rest of the residence, one of our design goals was to promote a unified perception for the bulk of the house.

The same intention moved us to rhythmically shape the outer face with curves, in a way to hold better, aesthetically and statically, the big pitched roof. These curved brickworks are made out of two types of brick, some full rectangular and other canted, in an attempt to improve the perception of a 40 meters long wall, transforming monotony into architectural order. We hope to be successful on this.