Local studio Fabián M Escalante H Arquitectos has designed a steel-clad holiday home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, which wraps around existing trees to fit in with the surrounding area.
Fabián M Escalante H Arquitectos created the retreat for a client who owned a large plot of land with a dam and wanted a building that wouldn't disturb the environment around it.
Top and above: the owner requested that no trees be taken down to make space for the building
"The most important requirement was to keep, completely, all trees in the plot," studio founder Fabián Marcelo Escalante Hernández told Dezeen.
"Therefore, the first approach to the project was to know perfectly the site and the exact position of the vegetation." The holiday home in San Miguel de Allende was designed as a place for rest
The resulting building in Guanajuato, Mexico was thus built around the trees and designed as a place for rest and social activities.
It has two entrances, with a footbridge leading to the house from the east and a large terrace providing space for socialising to the west.
A terrace entrance hall has space for socialising
The terrace also functions as an entrance hall and has a grill and food preparation area, while the main gabled volume in the house, which is built above the water, houses the family room, dining room and a double-height bar.
"We wanted to create a subtle intervention in the landscape, but at the same time a space for multiple activities,&qu...