Casa Escondida

Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe

CASA ESCONDIDA

Studiohuerta

ARCHITECTS
Studiohuerta

AREA
745 m²

YEAR
2020

PHOTOGRAPHS
Roland Halbe

MANUFACTURERS
Caesarstone, Legrand, Bentley Systems, Clear Solutions Series, Interceramic, Robert McNeel & Associates,

MANUFACTURERS
Sunbrella, WAC Lighting

CATEGORY
Houses, Detail

LOCATION
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

CONSULTANTS
RS Los Cabos, Hidroequipos Albercas

CONSTRUCTION
Grupo Basica

DESIGN TEAM
Gabriel Huerta, Arshia Gharib, John McMahon, Angelos Palaskas

ENGINEERING
Jacobo Perez, MGA Calculo Estructural

COLLABORATORS
CaboBarba Carpentry, Intermark Group

Text description provided by architect.

Located off the desert coast of Los Cabos, Casa Escondida is a project of multiplicities.

Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe

Mediating between complex and competing demands imposed by climate, program, and neighborhood regulations, the design overlays strategies of disguise and duality to construct the concept of a house within a house.

The discreet exterior displays a compliant structure, conforming to the requisite roof type, limited apertures, and stone cladding stipulated by community guidelines, while inside, architectural freedoms of form and materiality unfold.

Carved out of the house’s conceptual massing, a composition of voids creates a second, protected exterior space; a courtyard covered by skylights that tilt and taper at different angles to produce variations in daylighting and natural ventilation.

Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe

Living and sleeping rooms encircle the courtyard across two floors, weaving together and through the central void to connect the house’s interiors with the space and shade of the cloistered breezeway.

Beneath the exterior’s cloak of Cantera stone, the house’s structure and interior are composed of board-formed concrete, creating a thick shell of thermal mass that protects against tropical storm winds and helps isolate exterior temperatures.

Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe

Openings of mixed shapes and sizes create visual and thermal connections between interior spaces and the outdoors.


Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe
Casa Escondida
© Roland Halbe


Casa Escondida
Upper Floor Plan
Casa Escondida
Ground Floor Plan
Casa Escondida
Site Plan
Casa Escondida
Floor Plan


Casa Escondida
Detail
Casa Escondida
Detail


Casa Escondida
Section
Casa Escondida
Section
Casa Escondida
Section
Casa Escondida
Model