Mexican firm HGR Arquitectos has completed Casa Texcal, a holiday home formed of intersecting gabled volumes wrapped in local stone and large stretches of glass.
Casa Texcal is located in Tepoztlán, a mountain town that lies about 80 kilometres south of Mexico City.
Casa Texcal is in mountainous Tepoztlán
The area is home to the ruins of El Tepozteco, an Aztec temple that was built over 600 years ago. The house sits in a residential area on the outskirts of the town centre.
The clients ? a married couple with sons and grandchildren ? desired a vacation residence that responded to its immediate context, while also favouring views of Cerro Del Tepozteco, a craggy mountain that rises up behind their property.
Casa Texcal is clad in grey stone In response, the architects conceived a two-storey, 483-square-metre home that is T-shaped in plan ? a configuration that allows for sight-lines from different vantage points.
"Thinking about these principles, the house was designed in two intersecting warehouse-type volumes, in such a way that all the spaces in the house could have the desired views," said HGR Arquitectos, a studio based in Mexico City.
A T-shaped plan provides sight-lines
One of the volumes is gabled, while the other is bar-shaped. At their intersection, the team placed a gravel courtyard with a flowering bauhinia tree.
The open-air space serves as a transitional moment between public and private spaces, according to the team.
Stretches of glass provide vi...