Luis Viale en Paternal / Nidolab

Architects: Nidolab
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Area: 60 sqm
Photographs: Daniela Mac Adden

Collaborators: Candelaria Cadenas

From the architect. The Project was based  on a house built in the year  1918, located in La Paternal, a neighbourhood that still preserves the original grid of the city caracterized by small residential buildings, that managed to stay unaffected by the great movement of the city.

The owners, a very young couple, were searching for a new private room that would be built on an existing roof terrace, leaving the ground floor for the common areas, a recoding studio, a small showroom and a working space for a psychiatrist.

The stillness and quietness of the surroundings, was a starting point to develop the new master bedroom around and open patio,  facing towards the center of the block,  so it could be observed and embraced.

The new building should be able to hold the bedroom, a dressing room, and the bathroom. We also proposed a desk area and a small room that we called shelter. It was all structured around a main ring, that would hold the outdoor patio and dressing room. By producing a greater hight on top of the dressing room, a small shelter was created. A place conceived to meditate, watch the stars through the roof window and listen to music, while relaxing on a handmade rug by the artist Alexandra Kehayohlou.

Separated by a long skylight, the bedroom, reception hall and working desk are located on the left side of the main ring allowing the entrance of light, and the recognition of the two main pieces of the Project.

The bathroom was located on  the  opposite side, adding the presence of color, and as a big green box it communicates itself with the outdoor patio and backyard.

By placing the patio in a central position, all the areas where conceived  for a specific use, eliminating any unuseful surface. Through every window, the sky and the heart of the typical heterogeneous Buenos Aires  block, can be observed.

The whole Project  was built in Steel frame, minimizing the total weight over the existing house, and the total construction time, allowing it´s completion in three months while the clients were traveling overseas.