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Location: Los Cardales, Argentina
Project size: 2,400 square feet

Program: In the quaint town of Los Cardales, located on the outskirts of the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, architect Daniel Canda transformed a pitched-roof weekend retreat into a more contemporary one for a couple and their three children. “Fifty years after the house was built,” Canda says, “it no longer met the needs of today.” He adds, “As architects, we must think about the impact of replacing a building when it can instead be adapted.”

Design Solution: The brick house, laid out in a square with two ancillary volumes on either side, was reworked from the inside out. Interior walls that previously shaped rooms were replaced with a core-like concrete structure accommodating a ground-level half-bath. Furniture built-ins line this core, organizing each of the spaces around it—the kitchen, the living area, and a workspace. This freed up the plan to be as open as possible.

Photo © Albano Garcia

On the upper floor, the pitched roof was deconstructed and replaced by a flat one held up by a delicate metal frame. This move created additional useable square footage on this level, but, more importantly, allowed the architect to wrap the house in a continuous ribbon of glazing.

Structure and Materials: A layer of stone cladding was added to the house’s primarily volume, giving it a double skin with an interior air chamber. In the ancillary volumes (the vertical one houses a water tank) a neutral palette was used to unify the composition.

Additional Information
Completion date: October 2023
Site size: 1.5 acres
Total construction cost: $200,000
Client/Owner: Withheld

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Photos © Albano Garcia

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Images courtesy Daniel Canda Arquitecto, click to enlarge