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BC House in Mexico by GLR Arquitectos

This home in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México by GLR Arquitectos (Gilberto L. Rodríguez) has been a study on energetic efficiency, which analyzes the sun trajectory and the prevailing winds in diverse seasons of the year.

Green features include double walls with polyisocianurate, an ecological insulator; double windows with low emissivity (Low-E) glass; systems of pluvial water harvesting and gray water treatment for irrigation, solar paddles for pool heating and garden illumination, solar water heaters, hydronic heating systems to reduce the power consumption, south oriented skylights, as well as a landscape project with native vegetation.

Eco-features aside, I’m really loving the geometry of the home as well as the beautiful view.

From the architects:

Our project is in a privileged topographic situation, due to its visual condition of greater height in relation to the surrounding neighbors. This allows the house to enjoy excellent vistas towards the National Park of Chipinque in the south, as well as towards all of the east, which is dominated in the horizon by the “Cerro de la Silla”, an emblematic hill in the boundaries of the city of Monterrey.

The proposed access to the site is located in the North side of it, ascending through a long slope that leads you to the highest level, where the floor plan is located.

With simple, pure geometric volumes, but rather challenging structural solutions, our project intends to evoke an image of lightness within a language of heavy and massive volumes.

Although color does not have yet an important presence in our work, this project takes an important step forward into the exploration of new materials, as it is the black granite and the white exposed concrete, in addition to the personality that the great amount of exposed steel elements gives to the building.

Finally, it is important to mention that beyond its bio-climatic function, the implementation of green roofs as a way to integrate the landscape, trying to conserve the natural surroundings of the zone, always dominated by the presence of the splendid Sierra Madre mountain range.

Project: BC House
Location: Monterrey, Nuevo León, México
Year Completed: 2010
Project Area: 12,920 sq ft
Project Team: Felipe Dorado, Tomas Güereña, Joaquin Jenis, Oscar O’Farrill, Diana Guerra
Photography: Jorge Taboada

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk, is a Jersey girl living in SoCal. She dreams about funky, artistic jewelry + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, making music, and drawing.