Mallarauco House

Located in the middle of a redwood forest planted at the end of the 19th century, there is a reserved space in the middle of a productive field in the Mallarauco valley, 40 kilometers from Santiago. A natural slope channel runs through the entire land, allowing the proliferation of aquatic plants and natural ponds.
The Mallarauco house is located in an idyllic context. The original commission had to solve a traditional program of rooms, leisure spaces and the respective services for a family, which would occupy the house on weekends and holidays. Understanding the context where we operated, the first decision we made was to 'exploit' the program in multiple volumes. With this strategy, it was possible to
preserve all the redwoods, which seemed to us a basic principle, as well as a decisive request from the principal.
The second thing consisted of projecting the entire structure and partitions of the house using a prefabricated wood system, with which we considerably minimized the work times, the impact and the possible damage that the construction could cause to the existing trees. In addition to establishing a link with the predominant materiality of the place. An exterior walkway connects the different areas, and
organizes circulation around the central space of the forest. The disposition of the different volumes embrace this center, at the same time that they seek an adequate relationship with the views and the context depending on the program they respectively house.