Omnibus House – Gubbins Arquitectos – Chile

Omnibus House – Gubbins Arquitectos – Chile

Architect: Gubbins Arquitectos

Location: Cachagua, Chile

Type: Residential – Single family residence

Building status: built

To break the typical areas of an urban house; kitchen, living–dining room and dormitories, this house has a double circulation that deconstructs these areas into a set of complimentary places. This creates a way of inhabiting that moves away from a typical urban arrangement into a more playful one.

 To inhabit the exterior of a holiday house does not only imply the direct interaction with the outside of the house, but also the interaction through the house. This has been achieved through its own structure and arrangement, allowing the possibility of re-discovering new views from the terrace-roof; from the back terrace through the living room, from the corridor or galleria by the main façade or sheltered along the houses stone base.

 The north orientation of the houses main façade (23.5 meters width by 3.1 meters height) offers the possibility of becoming a large solar collector that at night time re-emits the accumulated thermal energy gathered during the day, by its walls, concrete slabs and roof.

 The use of concrete as the main material, gives a sense of mass that is necessary for relating to the context. Its color complements the surrounding trees and allowed the used of a large span for the roofing and the use of different textures produced by the rough sawn timber formwork sold by a local retailer.