Santiago House: Interior, Exterior & Nature Integration

Exploring Nature and Mountain Experiences in the Sierra Madre Oriental

Colonial villages such as Santiago are located close to major cities, approximately 37 kilometers from downtown Monterrey. These areas attract a large number of visitors weekly, thanks to the diverse landscapes they offer.

Outdoor Activities and Relaxation Opportunities

The region is characterized by rivers, waterfalls, and dense forests, making it an ideal environment for activities such as canyoning, climbing, and mountain hiking. It also features traditional accommodations designed specifically for weekend getaways, such as cabins and summer houses, providing opportunities to relax and escape the hustle and bustle of the city.

Integration with the Mountain Environment

The choice of accommodation locations in these villages is particularly important, especially those overlooking the mountains. Their design allows for seamless integration with the surrounding landscapes, offering residents a complete experience that combines comfort with breathtaking natural beauty.

A long shot of the concrete pillar structure separating the white gravel courtyard from the green grass garden. — The structural rhythm of the house defines the boundary between the private inner courtyard and the expansive social garden.

An internal courtyard featuring white gravel, a large natural rock, and a black boundary wall under a concrete overhang. — Internal courtyards and transparencies allow the house to open up, creating an integrated experience between interior and exterior spaces.

Exterior Façade and Environmental Integration

The house features a closed exterior design, focusing primarily on the doors, which gives it a sense of calm and simplicity in form.

Use of Local Materials and Continuity of Heritage

The construction relies on local stone, allowing it to blend naturally with its surroundings without overwhelming the overall landscape. This approach reflects the continuity of rural building language in the region, where some massive walls made of stone and clay bricks have remained for centuries, seamlessly connecting the present with the past in a visible and coherent manner.

Black Acapulco-style chairs on a concrete patio under a heavy concrete roof, looking out toward a pool and dark garden wall. — Reinforced concrete elements, such as beams and columns, create a cohesive structural unit that interacts with light and shadow.

View from a dark interior dining room looking through large glass doors into a bright white gravel courtyard with a concrete colonnade. — Large glass openings facilitate a visual and experiential connection between the indoor sanctuary and the rugged outdoor environment.

Interior Design and Space Utilization

Internally, the house takes advantage of various transparencies and courtyards, allowing open spaces and creating a seamless experience between the interior and exterior. These openings enhance the sense of spaciousness and connectivity throughout the home.

Functional Organization of Interior Areas

The interior layout is divided into two main sections, separated by a central service axis. This axis acts as a link between the public and private areas, facilitating movement and providing a logical organization of daily activities, while maintaining privacy and comfort simultaneously.

A professional architectural site plan showing the L-shaped building footprint, courtyard, and surrounding landscape. — The floor plan illustrates the strategic placement of the residence to maximize mountain views and functional privacy.

Technical architectural drawings showing the side elevation and a cross-section of the house. — Elevation and section drawings detailing the vertical integration of materials and the continuous flow between levels.

Privacy and Protection in Space Design

The private areas of the house are enclosed by a large stone wall that shields them from the street, while separating them from the social areas with metal mesh fences that allow views of the large central courtyard. This design ensures a balance between privacy and visual openness within the residence.

Connecting Public Spaces to the Outdoors

The public area features openness and a direct connection to the garden through a covered terrace, extending the functional space to the outdoors. The terrace provides a spacious shaded area, ideal for relaxation, complemented by additional recreational elements such as a swimming pool and a barbecue area, enhancing the outdoor living experience and creating a balance between indoor and outdoor activities.

A modern interior featuring a long wooden kitchen island, white dining table, and black minimalist cabinetry against a concrete ceiling. — The interior program is divided into two main parts separated by a central service axis to facilitate daily movement.

Structure and Materials

The house’s structure relies on reinforced concrete elements, with walls and beams exhibiting noticeable variations in texture and finish due to different material execution techniques. These elements harmoniously integrate with floors and ceilings made of the same material, creating a cohesive structural unity.

Integration of Materials and Interior Spaces

Inside the structure, only a single metal column stands out, serving as a focal point within the monolithic framework and highlighting the steel character of the interior. Some interior spaces are also enclosed by glass or open courtyards, enhancing visual and experiential connectivity between the inside and outside.

Light, Shadow, and Spatial Experience

Over time, sunlight interacts with the diverse surfaces and materials in the house, including stone, wood, steel, and ceramic, creating a dynamic play of light and shadow. These visual phenomena add an experimental and sensory dimension to the home, as the interior atmosphere changes with natural light fluctuations, enriching the living experience and interaction with the surrounding environment.

Close-up of a cylindrical concrete structure featuring a minimalist arched opening and a black metal spiral staircase. — The spiral staircase acts as a sculptural transition point, linking the living levels to the panoramic rooftop terrace.

Movement Dynamics and Spatial Connectivity

Circulation within the house is organized through a spiral staircase and a ramp that lead to the rooftop terrace from different points, creating a unique transitional experience between levels and spaces.

Interaction with the Natural Landscape

Accessing the rooftop terrace represents a pivotal moment in the residential experience, offering views of the nearby mountains for contemplation and observation. These continuous pathways enhance the sense of connection between the interior and exterior, as well as between the occupants and their surrounding environment, adding a dynamic dimension to the home experience and emphasizing the importance of engaging with the natural surroundings.

A massive local stone wall with a minimalist vertical entrance under a clear blue sky with mountains in the background. — The exterior facade utilizes local stone to reflect the rural building language of the region while ensuring total privacy from the street.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The Santiago House project can be seen as an intriguing architectural experiment in its attempt to integrate the residence with the natural environment, exploit light and shadow, and organize both internal and external circulation. It clearly demonstrates a focus on the integration between interior and exterior spaces, as well as an emphasis on privacy and open areas, an aspect that represents a positive approach that could inform future projects related to housing in mountainous or natural settings.

However, certain reservations emerge from a more objective architectural perspective. Notably, the project relies heavily on reinforced concrete and traditional materials without exploring alternative sustainable techniques or lightweight solutions, which may limit the flexibility of the residence in different contexts or its long-term environmental impact. Additionally, the organization of interior spaces depends largely on a central axis, which could constrain possibilities for future expansion or reconfiguration.

Overall, the project can be considered a case study for analyzing the interaction between architectural design and the surrounding natural environment, with an emphasis on lighting, circulation, and privacy. It provides a valuable opportunity for architects to study the balance between environmental integration and practical construction considerations, while taking into account the enhancement of sustainable performance and design flexibility in future projects. Explore more related projects and research for further insights.