Casa Gabriela is a single-family residence located in an area undergoing urban development. Its design aimed to provide the user with a serene and practical refuge, incorporating considerations of security, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency, while maintaining low construction and maintenance costs.
Project Name: Gabriela House
Studio Name: TACO Taller de Arquitectura Contextual
Location: United States
Status: Built
Image Credits: Leo Espinosa, Carlos Patrón
The house is deliberately set back from the street, creating a small plaza designed as a public space to encourage interaction with the surrounding area—an architectural feature common in the region that enhances neighborhood security.
This space serves as a prelude to the entrance of the house, which is accentuated by a water feature that interacts with the interior social areas, particularly the entrance hall. The architectural program includes a social area where the kitchen, living room, and dining room converge; an intermediate service zone housing the bathroom and laundry closet; and, finally, a bedroom. Each of these spaces connects to semi-outdoor rear terraces, which function as extensions of the interiors, leading to the backyard garden and an open rooftop patio.
The regional climate allows several openings to be enclosed solely with mosquito netting, ensuring constant natural ventilation. The double-height spaces feature skylight openings that expel hot air, maintaining indoor thermal comfort. The construction system follows the most common method in the region, using concrete blocks, beams, and hollow-core slabs. This system is visible in the exposed underside of the slabs covering the double height spaces. Lower ceilings are thermally insulated with polystyrene panels. Vibro-compressed concrete lattice screens protect the interior from sun exposure, rain, vandalism, and hurricanes.
The architectural finishes remain exposed. The floors are polished concrete, as are the site-cast concrete slabs used to assemble the fixed furniture. The walls and low ceilings feature a burnished waterproof cement stucco finish. The proposed vegetation consists of endemic species that attract wild birds, along with others cultivated for human consumption. Color is introduced in the front and rear entry thresholds, the furniture, and the functional accessories of the house. These were selected based on a palette inspired by local crafts, chosen for their ability to harmonize with the varied hues of the garden’s seasonal blooms.
