VF House / AM Arquitectura

Architects: AM Arquitectura
Location: Puerto Varas, Chile
Architect: Rodrigo Araya Manzanares
Area: 344.7 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Juan Eduardo Sepulveda

Collaborating Architect: Andres Barra Gallardo
Calculator Engineer: Mauricio Valdés Navarrete
Construction: Constructora Teuber

Text description provided by the architects. The construction is located in the city of Puerto Varas, Chile. It is very close to Llanquihue lake. However, the land does not have a direct view of the lake basin or the nearby mountain range. The job consisted of separating the main areas of a single-family house for five residents: a bedrooms area, an area for services and a third one destined for public spaces. Besides, the work included the challenge of permitting fluid circulation between such areas.

The first intervention criterion was to foster the potential views of the place by taking advantage of its best possible orientation. As the house is located longitudinally from east to west, having nearly all the living spaces facing the north was necessary so as to provide a good view of every place.

The second criterion was to place the house on the land, considering a small terrain slope, but not moving great amounts of ground. In that way, three sub-levels are created. These are joined by a central hall which contains a staircase leading to different areas. The ground floor is comprised of a semi-buried block of reinforced concrete with a thermal covering which holds the area of services, workshop and a suite for guests.

The second level comprises the master suite and the bedrooms for the three daughters of the family. In the beginning, the girls’ space consists of one bedroom and a playroom. Once the girls grow up, this area could be transformed into three identical bedrooms.

The upper level comprises the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The latter includes a second family room planned as a home office for the girls’ daily life. By setting the public spaces in the upper floors, it is possible to have a view of LLanquihue Lake and Calbuco volcano, making these rooms the main ones of the house, in the meantime.