A House On A Small Plot With A Secret Entertainment Area Under The Deck
Just because a house is built on a small piece of land doesn’t mean it has to be modest and to sacrifice comfort for privacy or looks for function. This house in Merida, Mexico sits on a small site and this doesn’t really influence it in any negative way. The house was completed in 2016 by R79 and one of its most notable characteristics is the lack of a clear physical barrier between the indoor and the outdoor spaces.
The front and rear facades of the houses are in contrast with each other. On one hand, the front of the house is pretty closed off, with no direct connection between the interior and exterior areas and with solid walls as opposed to full-height windows. The back facade, on the other hand, has sliding glass doors and walls that fully open the ground floor to the deck, pool and garden.
The house is organized on two floors with a separate entertainment area situated beneath the deck at the rear of the site. The ground floor extends outside and also incorporates the lounge and dining spaces out on the roofed deck. Strictly indoors there’s an open plan which houses the living and dining spaces. The kitchen is a semi-detached space with its own connection to the outdoors.
Every room on the ground floor has a view of the outdoors as well as access to the deck and garden. The upstairs level is a private zone. It contains the bedrooms which, although open to the views, have shutters which allow them to be completely separated from the exterior for more privacy and intimacy.
The two floors are connected by a staircase which was built around a tree. All the spaces, indoor and outdoor, are simple in terms of colors and materials. The architects used wood, stone, glass, steel and concrete to create this seamless and natural connection with the surroundings and neutral and earthy colors to emphasize these details.