Cabin in Punta Chillen by Guillermo Acuna

The interior of Guillermo Acuna’s cabin in Punta Chilen, on Chiloé Island — The interior of Guillermo Acuna’s cabin in Punta Chilen on Chiloé Island.

(Image credit: Cristóbal Palma / Estudio Palma)

The remote, dramatic landscapes of Punta Chilen, on the Chilean island of Chiloé, offer the perfect antidote to a busy urban lifestyle. This sparsely populated environment means that one should come prepared, both with sustenance and good company.

The latest project by Santiago-based firm Guillermo Acuña Arquitectos Asociados does the rest in terms of providing the space to entertain with style. His quincho (the regional version of an enclosed barbecue space), an addition to a private residential complex, features a pitched roof and is raised on stilts, taking its cues from local vernacular structures called palafitos.

However, its bright red exterior makes it clearly stand out from its neighbours. Inside, natural timber planks have been meticulously assembled to create a warm, informal interior, featuring a bar, open kitchen, barbecue, dining room and sitting area.

Admiring the long views of the Chacao Channel and the miles of volcanoes that shape the Andes through large glazed openings while getting comfortable around a grill is pretty much our idea of the perfect retreat.

As originally featured in the January 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*238)

Timber interior of the cabin with seating area

INFORMATION

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).