Tour a Chilean holiday home designed to weave daily life into its lakeside site
LoyCo House is a new Chilean holiday home on the shores of Vichuquén Lake; its creators, architects Ricardo Atanacio and Carolina Contreras, respond to the region's distinct identity to craft a home that feels entirely of its place
In a part of the world with abundant natural beauty, a new Chilean holiday home was designed to be in sync with its setting. LoyCo House was designed by Santiago-based CCRA Arquitectura to draw on the different identities of its region – being steps away from a small jetty on the shores of Vichuquén Lake on one hand, while also set close to Llico Beach on the central coast of Chile and the nearby Colchagua wine region.
Step inside this a Chilean holiday home by CCRA Arquitectura
The home's creators, architects Ricardo Atanacio and Carolina Contreras, drew on the organic feel, remote character and tactile nature of their site right from the get-go as they started developing this house, a getaway for a client with a regular base in a more urban setting.
Examining the brief, it felt imperative that Loyco bring its inhabitants close to the area's strong agricultural and fishing traditions – be it through incorporating the care of the native, rich vegetation (in the shape of garden space) or by allowing them to remain in touch with the complex river systems and ecologies of the different bodies of water in proximity to the site.
The residence itself is organised in an L-shaped floorplan, weaving public and private areas around an inner courtyard and two gardens. The property spans two levels. Four double bedroom suites and an expansive kitchen, dinning and living interior occupy the first. A further two double bedrooms (one is the primary suite with its own walk-in wardrobe) and a family breakout space are situated above.
An outside sport facility, including a 180 cm tall pool-pond built above natural ground level, completes the composition.
The Chilean holiday home's timber upper structure (glulam trusses) nods to the region's agricultural buildings while helping the house feel entirely of its place within the leafy, forested setting, which is hard to reach by conventional road. The timber cladding ages along with the house, offering a pleasing patina to the exterior and ensuring it maintains a natural feel.
At the same time, the outline of the overall composition's volumes is simple and nods to farming warehouses or small industrial structures, referencing local vernacular.
Everything is safely anchored to the ground by a slightly raised concrete basement. This gesture keeps the home away from water during possible flooding incidents and protects the building's steel-frame foundations. Meanwhile, landscape architects Cristóbal Elgueta and Macarena Calvo worked on an outdoor environment that elegantly wraps around the building, supporting the users' daily needs while blending architecture and surrounding nature.
