A plant-filled courtyard and a long swimming pool feature behind the board-marked concrete walls of this residence in La Plata, Argentina, designed by local architect Felipe Gonzalez Arzac.
Felipe Gonzalez Arzac completed Casa Closed in a residential area of La Plata ? the capital city of Buenos Aires Province ? called City Bell.

From the street, the residence has a severe exterior comprised of concrete walls textured by the imprints of wooden boards. This result is known as board-marked concrete.
Inside, the 190-square-metre home opens up around a central courtyard. Glazing wraps the yard offering views of the greenery and plenty of natural light.

"Its totally blind facade and its open sides give a particular visual impact, generating the sensation of being a completely dark house inside, without much connection with the outside," said Felipe Gonzalez Arzac in a project description. "However, it is the opposite effect that is generated when entering the house, which is decomposed and perforated almost entirely with a large courtyard as a compositional center," the studio continued.

"Both create a home that generates two very opposite situations, one from the outside and a very different inside," it added.
The central patio is joined by a smaller yard cut out of the front corner of the one-storey residence to form the main entrance. This leads into an L-shaped volume that wraps around central patio.

An open-plan kitchen, living and dining...