House D59: materiality as an alternative

The D59 house is located in one of the expansion areas of the city of Cuenca, which has become one of the most populated sectors of the conurbation. Its proximity to the city, as well as to public and private facilities, generates great interest for those seeking an affordable housing option without increasing the cost-distance ratio.

The task consists of achieving a project that offers a competitive price to the user without sacrificing spatial quality, creating spaces that provide comfort and flexibility to the future occupants of the housing. As a response, it was decided to use an efficient construction system and a simplified palette of finishes, thus the materiality and the construction system serve as a tool to reduce construction costs and, consequently, the final sale price.

The architectural program, developed in 150m2, is organized over two floors. The ground floor contains the social area, where the spaces are distributed in a single environment. The proposal emphasizes the spatial relationship of the house with the exterior, closing off to the public with the placement of the kitchen towards the front of the house.

The living room and dining room are located at the back, creating a connection to the rear patio through a large window that allows for the doubling of the project's social area, depending on needs.

The next level contains the resting area. The main room is located at the front of the volume, while the secondary rooms occupy the back. The volume is separated based on this distribution, and the uses are shifted towards the exterior, creating a void where complementary uses such as shared bathroom and laundry are located.

This operation, in addition to generating independence between the rooms, creates a social and interrelational space for the users. The concept of housing by cubic meter instead of square meter is introduced here, as the interplay of roofs and functional voids allows for greater height and therefore greater volume in all the rooms of the house without increasing the surface area.

The project revisits the concept of the loft, a space for which no program has been defined, so that it can be used by future occupants, adapting to various ways of living. In this way, an opportunity is created to design spaces for storage, living, studying, leisure, or even resting for its inhabitants.

The resources are allocated to achieving a constructive and spatial solution,
thus the construction is left in evidence. The block masonry, the site-cast concrete, the wooden structure, are the protagonists of the project, highlighting the natural beauty of the materials used.

This decision aims to revalue the existing materials in the environment, presenting itself as a different alternative in housing production where spatial quality takes precedence over the pursuit of excessive perfection.