Casa Encoique stands out amid its forest topography with its unique architecture. This lakehouse near Lago Ranco in southern Chile boasts glazed walls and “boxed” volumes.
Cristián Izquierdo L of Santiago-based studio Izquierdo Lehmann designed this house in a cylindrical form. Constructed in 2021 as a guest pavilion, it connects to a pre-existing holiday home via a concrete walkway. It occupies nearly 1345 square feet and adapts an open-plan layout on the first floor.
The two-story Casa Encoique hosts the living and dining space and a prep kitchen on the ground floor. The second boasts three “boxed” volumes arranged in a triangular shape. They serve as cantilevered bedrooms clad in dried pine. Moreover, there are windows above the beds to allow natural light to seep through the room.
Izquierdo shared that the primary challenge with the project was finding an efficient way to solve the triangular structure in relation to the circular base. He ended up rotating the triangular center in an off-center position. This helps with more circulation space between the rooms. Then he placed a metal and eucalyptus spiral staircase on said space for access to the top floor.
Moreover, “the off-center layout of the staircase minimizes circulation between the bedrooms, qualifies a larger space in the common area, and manifests the harmonic difference of both floors.” Ultimately, “the project doesn’t solve the problem.” Instead, the finished design for Casa Encoique shows that “these two orders are fighting with each other, and sometimes they fit and sometimes they don’t.”
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Images courtesy of Izquierdo Lehmann
