Granada Home / Grado Studio
Granada House / Grado Studio
Text description provided by the architects. Granada House, silver medal at Twelfth Chiapas Architecture Biennial, is a holiday/vacation home in the middle of nature, away from the downtown area of San Cristobal, located in an area characterized by a high number of cabins and rest homes, a subdivision bounded by a large green area. The location of the property allows for large windows and to appreciate the natural spectacle of the mountains to the north and south to finish off with the completely green valley to the east. Casa Granada seeks a versatile program as a house for rest or for rent, with this condition in mind we propose -the flexibility and dynamism inside the house- a house that allows to accommodate different situations in each of its spaces.
On the first floor a closed facade is proposed, receiving the main access with a garden terrace, reaching the living room, dining room and kitchen on an open floor, allowing a connection between inside and outside through floor-to-ceiling sliding windows, with the possibility of closing the space when the temperature drops, maintaining a warm atmosphere with the fireplace, thinking of having a direct and indirect connection with the garden. Then the hallway leads to a bedroom/game room, the staircase and half bath, keeping the services, laundry area and parking at the back. Upstairs the main lobby welcomes us with a TV room, which ends with one of the most attractive views of the green valley to the east and a balcony to contemplate the mountains to the north and south. The private spaces, both master and secondary bedrooms, have double height ceilings, with the purpose of accommodating more guests, leaving the main views to the wooded mountains.
The orientation of the property allows to turn its back to the air currents coming from the northeast of San Cristobal, which is a fundamental factor due to the cold-humid climate that highlights the city, therefore, it was decided to use passive ventilation elements for the public, service and private areas. The proposed site has two fronts that through openings absorb solar incidence from east to west throughout the day, thus generating a warm atmosphere in the interiors during winter seasons, while in warm seasons floor to ceiling windows are contemplated to allow the natural circulation of winds from the south of the city. As for the finishes, we opted for a contrasting color with the nature of the context, in order to create a different atmosphere from the everyday of the city, as it is a house to spend a short period of rest and relaxation, the pomegranate color proposed upstairs both in facade and interior corridors becomes the protagonist, leaving the interior living spaces in white, the warmth of wood in fixed furniture and ceilings creates the atmosphere of rest.
