© Felipe Camus
- Architect: DRAA
- Design Team: Nicolas del Rio, Felipe Camus
- Area: 140.0 m2
- Project Year: 2015
- Photographer: Felipe Camus, Nico Saieh, Courtesy of DRAA
- Collaborators: Elsa Thevenaut, Magdalena Besomi
- Constructor: IDEAMADERA
- Land Area: 1/2 hec
- Massive Stove Kachelofe: Nicolas del Rio, Alex Chernov
© Nico Saieh
Text description provided by the architects. Located among native woodland overlooking the impressive Nevados de Chillan volcanic complex, La Dacha Mountain Hut is the result of a site-specific design that combines space programming with high thermal efficiency.
Towering above the canopy, the vertical V shaped dwelling aims to follow the sun path with generous openings towards the north and west.
© Nico Saieh
The rooms organised top down from the more public to the private, prioritise the open plan of the top floor; a thorough design of a 3 ends overlapping pavilion, each of them directed to specific views.
© Nico Saieh
In terms of structure, the design follows the hybrid construction concept i.e. having a light highly insulated perimeter and a thermally massive core.
© Nico Saieh
Section + Elevations
© Felipe Camus
In the middle floor is the entrance level that portrays a masonry stove or kachelofen, a wood stove that stores the required heat for the house in the thick brick walls, requiring a single load of wood a day with several benefits. This ancient technique common in central Europe becomes a prototype for Southern Chile where wood consumption and pollution are becoming crucial issues.
Cortesía de DRAA
The refuge is moduled in an array 122 x 244 cmts, the measures of the SIP board system. The panel where brought on a single day and assembled swiftly onsite during the warm months.
© Felipe Camus
© Felipe Camus
In terms of materials, the design uses native Lingue wood for the interior cladding and on-site charred conifer planks following the yakisugi technique on the outside, mounted as a ventilated façade, adding insulation and preventing the use of chemicals. As a result, La Dacha follows passive design principles in a concentrated vertical highly insulated refuge that mingles among a pristine mountain landscape.
© Nico Saieh