Project: La Noria House
Architecture: Garza Camisay Arquitectos
Lead Architects: Edna Garza, Darío Camisay
Location: Monterrey, Mexico
Area: 498 m2
Year: 2021
Photo Credits: Apertura Arquitectónica
La Noria House is in a residential area on a rectangular flat lot, adjacent to side houses and a small stream at the back that allowed the growth of large trees next to it. The project seeks to take full advantage of the views, while the spatial organization has two objectives: to achieve an interior volume that can capture the dimension of the trees and that the most number of rooms gets direct contact with the exterior.
Both objectives are reached by optimizing the allowed height towards the front and back and concentrating the program on both sides with two levels and a mezzanine as a third level that generates a large area that takes advantage of the complete height.
Since it is a long lot, we propose a central courtyard that helps illuminate and ventilate each space. This middle element is an impluvium where the sloping roofs converge. The difference in height between the center and the edges of the house determines the organization of spaces. The living areas are towards the sides with single, double, and triple heights, while the service areas are closer to the central area where the house allows only two levels. The maximum height on the building’s exterior is adjusted to follow the height of the neighboring dwellings.
The concrete structure shows the modular order, while the evenly spaced repetition of wooden beams on the roof defines the dimensions of the interior spaces, as does the enclosing elements on the facade. Finally, the brick wall acts as a boundary with the exterior or internal division without being load-bearing elements.
