Estancia Morro Chico - Vivienda Familiar

The new family home at Estancia Morro Chico is built on a hill offering panoramic views of the vast, undulating Patagonian landscape, its plains, ñires forests and the Andes foothills in the background. Its watchtower stands out as a new landmark in the powerful landscape of the Patagonian steppe.

In this panorama evoking immensity, strong winds shape the forms that define the steppe landscape, its rounded hills and stout ñires. Large scattered stone massifs emerge, their more angular geometry of straight lines and ridges contrasting with the shapes of the hills softened by the wind.

Inspired by this unique setting, the project revisits the traditional sheet metal construction style, a legacy of the first settlers, adapting it to current technical and functional conditions.

The façades appear as a large envelope unfolding around the living space. The volumes become denser towards the centre, with its skylights and belvederes, fading out at the edges in their side panels.

The palette of materials - aluminium sheet metal, stone for the floors, concrete for the base, and wood that will turn grey with time - borrows from the landscape the different shades and tones of the surrounding rocks and mountains. These materials also guarantee good resistance to the harsh climate, UV rays and corrosion from water and wind.

The glass openings are concentrated in the most protected parts of the house, with their wooden frames and cladding linking the interior and exterior.

Aluminium joinery was chosen for its technical qualities, good watertightness, resistance to harsh weather conditions – winds of over 90 km/h and outside temperatures of -20°C – and ease of handling, as well as for the delicacy of its elements framing the landscape.