An extension of its natural environment

Project: House In The Trees, Costa Esmeralda, Buenos Aires, Argentina Architects: Luciano Kruk Arquitectos, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Around four hours away from capital city Buenos Aires and about 13 km north of the city of Pinamar in Argentina, lies the neighbourhood of Barrio Marítimo II in Costa Esmeralda. House In The Trees was designed to be built in this neighbourhood, which stands parallel to the sea and is separated from the coastline by a screen of leafy pines, thus producing a setback that complies with provincial regulations.

The lot’s highest level is at the front; it gradually slopes downward as it gets farther away from the street, just as sand dunes do as they interfuse with the sea. The clients commissioned a leisure home that could also be rented out eventually. The house had to accommodate a typical program: one master bedroom and two secondary bedrooms, a social uses area, and an outdoor swimming pool. They requested that the house, protected by the woods, had minimal impact on its environment.

Supported by a minimum tread structural volume—that lodges the entrance and the service and engine rooms—the house was situated on the highest level of the lot. The decision was made to set it back beyond the minimum required by regulations. Surrounded by a wood of towering pines, the house merged into the landscape’s natural atmosphere, gaining privacy and the possibility of increasing its glazed surfaces.