Immersed in nature, the Bacatete House in Mexico City has been designed by Rima Arquitectura as an escape from urbanity into the wilderness. The single family home features cantilevering volumes, a first floor central courtyard and a subterranean garden bringing daylight into the basement level – all of which connect the interior with the outdoors.
A single pathway glides through the rectangular plot from the street, transporting inhabitants into a private paradise. The smooth, grey stone path runs over a subterranean garden at basement level bringing the illusion that you are really floating through a forest.
The ground floor living space
The building was designed to connect nature to the lived experience – textural finishes on the exterior of the building including wood, stone and concrete, let the building sink into its environment. The inner structural system of the house is built with steel columns and girders set at an angle, while Vierendeel truss frames support two cantilevered volumes that suspend the inhabitant into nature.
The exterior pathway leading through the site
The sensory experience continues throughout the house across four levels and down into the basement that opens up to the lower garden, bringing daylight into the underground rooms that include a wine cellar, gym and utility spaces.
The ground floor is a social zone for living, dining, studying and cooking, surrounded by glazing and access to the outdoors. While above, on the first floor, three bedrooms are planned around a double-height terrace at the heart of the house. An extensive master suite on the second floor includes a lounge area, dressing room and terrace overlooking the view of the valley. §
