Page 47 - Designing Ways 247

Living room and dining room
Photo credit: Cesar Bejar

the landscape; two of them bearing the It was important to have very few Technical sheet
soil of the new hill created by raising the references of elements that would connect • Architectural Firm: HW STUDIO
bed sheet, and two others framing the to a specific moment in time, so the • Project location: El vaquerito,
access as they escort guests into the house. refrigerator and appliances were hidden, Morelia, Michoacán.
The path is wide enough to walk the lighting was arranged very discreetly, • Completion Year: 2021
comfortably alone, yet narrow enough to and only the four main materials were • Gross Built Area (square meters or
discourage accompaniment. Visitors are included: stone, wood, concrete, and square foot): 250 mts 2
guided into a pilgrimage of solitude that steel. It was very important for the client • Lead Architects: Rogelio Vallejo
leads to an old tree with such a significant to preserve the rough and primitive Bores and Oscar Didier Ascencio
presence that it was necessary to distort atmosphere of being in the mountains. Castro.
the linearity of one of the walls with a
gentle curve to be able to pass next to it...
so close that it is even possible to graze it. North Façade
After crossing the tree threshold, going Photo credit: Dane Alonso
down a few solid pearled stone steps, and
opening a heavy steel door, a concrete
vault supports the loads of the green
bed sheet that rests upon it; providing a
sensation of being inside a cold, dark, but
strangely cosy cave.
Concrete was chosen as the main
material due to a dream about this new
rock melting while inevitably interacting
with the forest, changing colours... greys
that turned to greens, blacks and yellows
that were gradually incorporated into the
environment. The flooring emphasises an
aroma of wood that is perceived when
surrounded by pine trees, providing
balance to the cold temperature of the
concrete; and finally, steel, that with time
and rainfall, acquires the appearance of
tree bark.
As for the spatial organisation, public
areas on the left side of the house are
completely exposed to the wooded ravine,
and on the right side are open more
discreetly to a courtyard with treetop and
sky views.

dw • Issue 247 47