Architects:DARP - De Arquitectura y Paisaje

Area:220m²

Year:2025

Photographs:Mauricio Carvajal

Lead Architects:Jaime Cabal, Jorge Buitrago

Category:Renovation

Design Team:Steven Rios, Samuel Acevedo, Sebastián Aguirre

General Construction:Almalop Construcción

Engineering And Consulting > Services:CAF Vidrios y Aluminio

City:Retiro

Country:Colombia

Text description provided by the architects. The project is conceived as a reflection on the transformation of a prefabricated wooden house, built more than two decades ago, whose original condition of temporary occupation evolves into a model of permanent living. This transition implies not only a functional update but a comprehensive reinterpretation of its spatial, constructive, and environmental logics, in accordance with new forms of contemporary living.

The intervention strategy focuses on the two longitudinal sides of the building, understood as active mediation systems between the interior and the environment. On the first side, corresponding to the facade that houses the services, a functional reconfiguration is proposed aimed at optimizing the technical performance of the house, adapting it to the demands of continuous use. This operation not only reorganizes the served and serving spaces but also updates their performance in terms of comfort, efficiency, and maintenance.

In contrast, the intervention on the northwestern facade proposes a controlled opening towards the landscape, intensifying the relationship between the house and its natural context. Through the expansion of openings and the incorporation of transitional devices, it seeks to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior, extending both social and private areas into the immediate surroundings. This operation not only qualifies the spatial and lighting conditions but also establishes a perceptual and environmental continuity that integrates the domestic experience with the surrounding landscape.

The project presents a comprehensive update that, beyond a simple functional adjustment, reinterprets the existing house from a contemporary logic where architecture and landscape are articulated as an indivisible system.

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