Project: Las Rocas Houses
Architecture: Ignacio Urquiza + Ana Paula de Alba
Design team: Michela Lostia, Ana Laura Ochoa, Anet Carmona
Interior Design Team: Ana Paula De Alba, Sacha Bourgarel
Location: Valle de Bravo, Mexico
Year: 2022
Photo Credits: Onnis Luque
Las Rocas Houses is a complex of four residences situated in the northern part of Valle de Bravo, known as La Peña. This elevated terrain, rich in rock formations and endemic vegetation, serves as the foundation for a project that seamlessly integrates architecture with nature.
A Site-Responsive Design
The 6,400-m² site extends the adjacent natural reserve, prioritizing environmental respect and regeneration. A thorough site analysis guided the placement of each house, minimizing disruptions to existing runoff patterns, rock formations, and vegetation.
A narrow cobbled road leads visitors to the complex’s central service area, which contains key infrastructure, including a car park, storerooms, cisterns, machine rooms, and treatment plants. From here, residents leave their vehicles and proceed on foot via paths, steps, and plazas, immediately transitioning from urban surroundings into a natural retreat.
Modular Architecture with Unique Layouts
The design evolved from a flexible modular system, allowing different configurations tailored to each house’s specific location. While the four houses share the same modules and components, their unique layouts ensure optimal interaction with the landscape. The architectural volumes arrange themselves freely in six directions—front, rear, above, below, left, and right—creating voids for views, natural light, and ventilation. This approach fosters a dynamic architectural dialogue with nature.
In Las Rocas Houses, natural elements play an integral role in design: a bathroom incorporates a stone, a tree extends through a roof, and the terrain itself forms a walkway or staircase. The interplay between built and natural environments defines the project’s character.
Thoughtful Circulation and Spatial Experience
Each module originated in the studio before architects mapped it on-site to ensure an ideal fit. After positioning, they carefully planned the furnishings, doors, and windows before connecting them to the corridor, which functions as the primary horizontal and vertical circulation axis. The corridor’s dimensions and levels vary based on each home’s conditions, allowing the architecture to adapt to the landscape rather than imposing on it.
The contrast between enclosed volumes and open corridors creates varied spatial experiences. The intimate sleeping quarters contrast with open-air pathways that connect directly to local vegetation and rocky terrain. Beyond circulation, these corridors regulate the home’s internal climate by capturing southern sunlight while benefiting from northern shade and surrounding outcrops.
Blurring Boundaries Between Indoors and Outdoors
The living and dining areas feature a striking corner window, formed by a 5 x 10 meter cantilever. This design merges the indoors with the outdoors, eliminating redundant spaces often found in rural retreats. Instead, these rooms serve as the heart of the home, emphasizing continuous engagement with the landscape.
The kitchen integrates with the dining and living areas, with the option to separate spaces using a sliding partition. Meanwhile, architects positioned terraces according to site conditions, reinforcing the seamless relationship between architecture and the environment.
Materiality and Integration with Nature
The light-gray stucco finish reflects the tones of the surrounding rock formations, allowing the homes to subtly blend into the environment. The project incorporates only two additional materials—textured stone flooring and glass. The glass, always flush with the exterior façades, enhances the smooth texture of the stucco while reflecting and merging the structures with their surroundings. This restrained material palette emphasizes the project’s simplicity, allowing nature to take center stage.
A Personalized Approach to Interiors
Ana Paula de Alba designed custom interiors for each house, tailoring them to the residents’ unique needs. Every space reflects its inhabitants, reinforcing Las Rocas Houses as an exemplar of site-sensitive design.
A Quiet, Context-Driven Architectural Statement
Las Rocas Houses embrace a philosophy of understated elegance. By prioritizing simplicity, natural integration, and dynamic spatial arrangements, the project fosters a built environment that enhances, rather than competes with, its surroundings. The result is a serene retreat where architecture coexists in harmony with the landscape, allowing nature to take precedence.
