Mexican architecture practice Pothe.arquitectura has distributed living units around a central garden and a patio that lead all recreational and social activities of the house in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico. 

The project, named Casa Roble 3.6, emerges as a transformation of an old patio into a residence where the project unfolds the spatial and material distributions of the houses of yesteryear.  

Pigmented concrete, pivoted ironwork windows and white clay textures present a sense of different layers and a human-scale spatial arrangement where surprising corners welcome its users.

While navigating through the different layers, this small-scale garden becomes a breathing space and becomes the main element of the design.

According to the architects, the patio was the main guideline of the project, but "the real challenge was to take this space beyond what was planned."

The site area was not very large, only measuring 10 meters by 19 meters, however, the patio space had to be able to expand, and allow for surprise visits, and a lot of movement. 

For these reasons, the studio designed a gate that accommodated two clearly divided spaces, the garage, and patio, but this element, when traversed, had to leave room for a large central space. 

The gate was the indicated element that would give the architects all this flexibility. Its aesthetic was planned to blend in and not be distinguished literally.

The L-shaped plan layout is closed by a garage wall, made of a latticework, the gate is also designed with the same material that allows for a more intense visual experience for the user, providing privacy and filling the home with light. 

The building is so sheltered from the street front that no one cannot understand where this house begins and ends.

"At first glance, the house seems resolved in very simple and closed volumes, with its white clay textures clearly being the protagonists of the space," said Pothe.arquitectura. 

"The entire architectural party revolves around this central element, which generates multiple internal views." "The social area is projected on the first floor," the studio added. 

The studio designs living room, dining room and kitchen in a single free-plan gallery contained between two outdoor spaces. According to the studio, this allows more interaction between these spaces thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows that run along the sides. It also allows air to circulate and the sunlight to enter. 

"The space becomes one, mixing all the environments," added the studio. As a nod to the past, the lobby is conceived as a corridor that has parallel frames of pigmented concrete and pivoted ironwork windows on its side. 

It also creates interaction with the outside, making a clear abstraction of the corridors of convent patios, with their arcades and columns.

While the house volumes allow different closures and openings, the materials create surprises with smooth transitions without straining the eyes.

The L-shaped plan continues on the second floor. This floor contains the private area, an office corridor and three bedrooms. The circulation of the spaces and the main bedroom are opened up towards the patio and in the center of it a large treetop bathes the visuals in green. 

"The house seems contemporary, but at the same time as from another era," the studio added. "This effect is the result of finishes that embody the materiality of the Mexican space." 

The floor of the patio is made of a pink quarry cobblestone, which is a typical material of the region, a material that clearly emulates an old patio a that has the peculiarity of changing over time, generating a deeper source of beauty and imperfection.

"The clay on the walls, the polished concrete on the floors and the quarry makes the house age gracefully over time, welcoming the effects of nature and allowing history to be visible," the architects added.

The studio added that "Casa Roble was conceived as an architectural artefact created to be inhabited in a flexible way, ready to welcome human social activities while looking at the passage of time."

First floor plan

Second floor plan

Rooftop plan

Traversal section

Longitudinal section

Elevation

Elevation

Project facts

Project name: Casa Roble 3.6

Architects: Pothe.arquitectura

Location: Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico. 

Size: 200m2 

Date: 2021 

All images © Ariadna Polo

All drawings © Pothe.arquitectura

> via Pothe.arquitectura