This contemporary house is located in Los Raulíes, Villarrica, Araucanía, Chile. This house, called Casa en Lago Villarrica is a private home designed by Plan Maestro. The client gave priority to the conservation of the forest and the large trees over other attributes of the site, like the views of the lake and the Villarrica volcano. The requirements were bedrooms for the client’s family and for guests, common areas for the whole group and services. Four wings were proposed, each with views and access to different places. The family bedrooms look towards the lake and have access to a small flat lawn between the house and the beach. Thus, the footprint of the house adapts to the position of the trees, avoiding the cutting of any important specimen. This operation also allows every interior space to be in contact with the forest’s environment.
The strategy was to group the rooms in sections or “wings”. This way, each wing could be displaced and rotated independently to avoid the trees. The guest’s bedrooms wing looks at the forest and the hill in the northern part of the site. This wing can be opened or closed down and heated independently from the rest of the house. The common areas wing is one large, transparent space, with views to the lake and forest, and opens to an exterior deck. It contains the kitchen, dinning room, living room and TV room.
