La Baronia House / Nicolas del Rio & Max Nunez

 La Baronia House  

The Chilean architecture Nicolas del Rio & Max Nunez have created the La Baronia in Quintero, Valparaíso Region, Chile. Corrosion caused by moisture and salinity of the sea air can destroy a structure in a short period of time. On this site, just meters from the Pacific Ocean, the proximity to the breaking waves is not a bucolic landscape of nature, rather, is an extreme situation that the temporary status of architecture.

The project provides a natural decay delay construction expected in proposing a predominantly opaque outer envelope of two inert materials: glass and weathering steel. The flag “idyllic” beachfront construction is replaced by a more airtight.

A tight budget and need a custom design restricted the program to an organization on two levels and an inner expression defined by the use of wood. The articulation of this structure is different in the two levels, creating different relationships with the Pacific horizon. If above, in the common areas, the perimeter is marked by the repetition and variation of the envelope of wood on the floor below, the orientation of the bedrooms is characterized by a deep horizontal window, detached from the wooden structure. These simple variations create different corners and views, creating distance and proximity to the outside, in extreme condition of the project as a refuge from the sea.

Nicolas del Rio & Max Nunez

The corroding power of the salty breeze coming from the Pacific Ocean can wear out an unprotected structure in a short period of time. Here, the braking waves are not a romantic vision of nature but a very crude reality of the temporal condition of architecture.

The project offers a delay of that imminent decay by building a weathered protection of corten steel and an interior structure of bolted wood frames. The “idilic” open pavilion by the seaside is replaced by a much more hermetic construction.

A tight budget and a precise brief restrained the design to a rational and flexible organization of the program in two levels and to the tectonic expression of a simple wood structure. The articulation of this structure is different in both levels, creating distinct relations with the view to the Pacific. If above in the common areas, the perimeter is defined by the repetition and variations of the wood envelope, on the level below, a deep horizontal window detached from the structure characterizes the bedrooms. These variations create different corners and views, defining a distance with the exterior, and stressing the condition of the house as a shelter by the seaside.

 Project Data  

Project name: La Baronia House
Location: Quintero, Valparaíso Region, Chile
Type: Ocean House, Hill House, Holiday House
Materials: Wood, zinc-alum cladding
Total floor area: 150 sqm
Status: Completed
Completion Year: December, 2009

 The people  

Client / Owner / Developer: Carlos Fuentes, Bernardita Cossio
Architects: Nicolas del Rio Arquitectos – Santiago. Chile & Max Nunez Arquitectos – Santiago, Chile
Project Architects: Nicolas del Rio, Max Nunez
Collaborators: Gonzalo Leturia
Structural Engineer: Enzo Valladares
Building Contractor: Eduardo Torreblanca
Text Description: © Courtesy of Nicolas del Rio & Max Nunez
Images: © Erieta Attali , Philippe Camus , Sergio Pirrone

 Location Map  

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