Santerra House

The choice of materials and systems in construction largely depends on the availability on the site, and earth is the most important and abundant natural construction material in most regions of the world. In this case, a large part of the earth for the walls of the house was obtained within the same land, as a result of the excavations for the foundation and facilities such as the cistern.
This house is located in El Porvenir, in the heart of Valle de Guadalupe, with a dry climate, and where the water is mainly used for agricultural activities. For these reasons, rammed earth was chosen as a construction system, since it requires a small amount of water compared to other systems. This construction system has other benefits such as regulating humidity in the environment and thermal inertia, to achieve a greater thermal retardation, 40 cm thick walls were built in the spaces used at night, the rooms, which are oriented to the west and receive the rays of the sun in the afternoon.
It is a house with apparent materials, mainly earth, wood and concrete. The use of earth in the walls helps the house blend in with the landscape of the valley. It was decided to use the shou sugi ban or wood burning technique on the facades to give it greater resistance, which resulted in a variety of shades of black depending on the angle from which it is viewed and the sun's rays.
The house was designed with minimal spaces, which is why the terrace is important, which becomes another living space when there are meetings or when the family sits down together for dinner, it faces south and is surrounded by the building to protect it from the winds strong and under a wooden pergola that lets in the sun's rays in winter but provides shade in summer.
It is a weekend house, so it has shutters and a wrought iron gate, as well as a pergola over the terrace that help protect the house while the occupants are away.