The owners of a beach house in Algarrobo, Chile wanted a dramatic makeover that would expand the available space and give it a whole new look without significantly changing the layout, which provides amazing views of the ocean. They turned to architects Jose Ulloa Davet and Delphine Ding to complete the renovation, and the result is pretty incredible. The architects not only created a helical path of circulation leading from the lowest deck to the rooftop of the highest volume, they gave the home a whole new ventilated timber skin. This horizontal wood siding instantly freshens the house up and makes it look more modern.
The original design of the house featured three volumes of increasingly larger square footage and taller heights, stacked one in front of the other. The smaller volumes had gabled roofs, while the larger volume had a steep shed roof. Davet and Ding eliminated the middle volume, instead stretching a staircase between the small one in the front and the large one in the back, creating a new sheltered outdoor space. Now you can walk right up from the lower deck to a secondary rooftop terrace, and then further up onto the roof of a newly cantilevered box.
Windows on either side of this cantilevered space point directly at ocean views in three directions, almost like a giant telescope. The new layout creates an intuitively flowing patchwork of indoor and outdoor spaces, and the roof terraces offer access to panoramic views of the stunning scenery. Meanwhile, all that horizontal wood ties it together beautifully. What a cool way to update an older home!
The architects explain how they came up with the idea for this timber facade.
“The skin on the project is designed as an autonomous unit, through modulated square openings with measures based on a 30 cms. module and a skin with a changing rhythm. New areas of the house blend into the existing through the ventilated timber skin. Whose function is to avoid accumulations of water and moisture in the structure wall.”
