Maximiliano Noguera and Alejandra Marambio, the principals of Max-A Arquitectura in Chile, insist that their hyperefficient design work isn’t rocket science. But they built their own chic, minimalist 1,506-square-foot A-frame house in a mere six months—and their architecture studio next door took just three. The efficiency of the construction—which took place during lockdown—can’t be pure luck.

In fact, it’s the result of an idea so simple, it’s genius: Rather than designing a home and then sourcing components to fit, Maximiliano and Alejandra planned a home that could be built using standard-sized materials.

“We wanted to be efficient with time and resources,” says Maximiliano. “So we started thinking about how we could design by material standards.” The duo based the entire project on the fact that wood boards in Chile come in a standard size of 122 by 244 centimeters—which allowed them to construct it with very little cutting, resizing, or custom fitting.

“It’s like a puzzle,” Maximiliano says. “You have all the pieces, and then you figure out what you can do with them.”

And the architect couple’s solution was to create an inviting, open-concept space with lofty ceilings and floor-to-triangle-tip windows that highlight the verdant landscape.

“We built the skeleton first, and then everything else fit in like Lego bricks,” says Alejandra. It took just two days to close up the framed house with insulated panels. A lofted second floor sits at the back of the house; you’ll find the primary bedroom up there, while the children share a bedroom on the ground floor, next to a cozy family room and the kitchen/dining area.

In Chile, the weather fluctuates wildly throughout any given day. “The climate changes every hour,” laughs Maximiliano. No wonder, then, that the concept of a refugio—home as refuge —was top of mind. Both Maximiliano and Alejandra grew up skiing, so a cozy, alpine-inspired A-frame felt like the perfect form for achieving that hide-away-from-the-world feeling. The triangular shape can be efficiently heated, and it also creates a pleasing duality: high ceilings and a sense of comforting containment.

It rains so much in Chile that Maximiliano says it sometimes feels like “the sky is falling down.” But in their little refuge, the family feels perfectly at home, even in a storm. “There’s something beautiful about the triangle,” says Alejandra. “You feel the rain dropping down, but you still feel protected.”

Almost everything in the house is built from either Oregon pine or Tepa (a wood with few knots that’s native to southern Chile). “We liked the idea of having very few materials,” says Alejandra. They used it for furniture, for the kitchen cabinets, and for the floors, walls, and ceiling.

For the Max-A principals, “efficiency” applies not just to the speed of construction, but to energy and waste as well. “It’s not only in the design and the way you live, but also in the way we use the material,” says Maximiliano. “If you walk through our construction sites, you’ll find very little trash.”

Solar panels allow the family to power the property themselves, sustainably and autonomously. It’s a choice that’s eco-friendly, but also one that allows them to disconnect from an often-unreliable public electrical grid. In the winter, the home stays nice and warm; in the summer, they throw open the windows to let the breeze cool things down.

The shingles that line the exterior are things of beauty, made from the wood of a special Chilean tree called the alerce. “There’s an art form to produce these,” says Alejandra; they must be manually chopped with a special axe using a technique that’s passed down from generation to generation.

The Max-A architecture team joins Alejandra and Maximiliano to collaborate at the 670-square-foot studio next to the house, blurring the line between home and work. “We’re living a new kind of a family life, where we do everything together,” says Maximiliano. “It’s not just that we go to work and come back—we do things together all through the day.”

Their eight-year-old daughter, Mila, and five-year-old son, Noah, stop by the studio to draw, paint, and “help” with models. “They know about all the different names for houses now,” laughs Alejandra. Maximiliano adds: “It’s crazy, but it’s beautiful.”

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Project Credits:

Architecture, Lighting Design, and Landscape Design: Max-A Arquitectura + Arquitectura del Paisaje / @max_a_arquitectos

General Contractor: C&C Construcciones

Structural Engineer: Alberto Ramierz Covo

Energy Systems: Thermikhaus / @thermikhaus

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In Chile, an Architect Couple Build an A-Frame Cabin in Just Six Months