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The concrete core is a vertical anchor from which the rest of the house unfolds. This hybrid and stable structure creates a dialectic of heavy and light, earth and sky. Within the three-story-high core are grouped the bathrooms, kitchen, and mechanical shaft.

At its lowest level, the concrete core connects to the glass frame through the kitchen and to the wood-metal frame below the entry level. In this area, there is a bedroom and a hall for the future bedroom extension volume.

On the second level is a hanging platform of wood and steel. At this level there are a studio, a bathroom, and a suspended Internet navigation area. This element floats out over the dining room into the double-high glass box volume.

The top floor has a bedroom, a bathroom, and access to the roof of the glass box, a large exterior terrace. Here one is literally within the tree canopy.

We hope that our process of synthesis is inscribed in this domestic space, integrating topography, social context, materiality, client experiences, and cultural factors. These inscriptions in space constitute the object. However, this object will only be completed over time, as the client makes the house into his own place.

Susana Andrea Herrera and Jose Miguel Heras are principals of FACTORIA Design and Construction Ltd., a design/build firm in Concepcion City, Chile.

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The dining area is in the transition between opaque concrete volume and glass box in the house for an engineer designed and built by FACTORIA Design and Construction Ltd. Photo: Jose Miguel Heras Materials and efficiency designed to make the engineer feel at home. Photo: Jose Miguel Heras Bedroom. Photo: Jose Miguel Heras Looking up to the fiberglass floor and glass roof of the vestibule. Photo: Jose Miguel Heras   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.