House on a cliff

A case-study family home set on the hills overlooking a lake near the Chile-Argentina border, some 600 kms south of Santiago. Surrounded by the Andes mountain range, it is a holiday villa for a doctor and his family, who wanted to enjoy majestic views across the forest and the waters of the lake. A large portion of the site was a steep slope inclining 14 meters toward the lake, so once parking for two cars was established, there was limited room for a building. The solution was to dig up the bedrock and sink the living spaces and pool on the lower floor, while allowing the top floor containing bedrooms and home office to glide over the falling landscape. The key to the structure is the creation of balance.