This contemporary house in Uruguay is clad with dark wood and amber stripes for a cathcy touch and features ocean views.
This black house near La Juanita beach, Uruguay, was built of wood by FRAM Arquitectos and Delfina Riverti. The property is built on a slope near Jose Ignacio Lake, a coastal body of water that feeds into the Atlantic Ocean.
Two wooden volumes with angled rooflines comprise the home’s massing. Different varieties and treatments to the material were used for the structure, walls, cladding, and interior finishes. Dark horizontal planks wrap the home, and are held in place with slightly paler vertical elements that align with the building’s structure. The team paired pale pine, a soft and inexpensive wood, with Massaranduba, a species native to South America. The pine planks are oil-stained to a dark tone, which contrasts the natural color of the tropical wood. The Massaranduba strips were also treated with oil, but left in their natural shade. Pine was also used for the interior finishes, where the material was whitewashed to protect it and brighten the resident’s living spaces.
Visitors access the home from the north, where the property leads to the street. This leaves the southern portion of the site open to views of the ocean below. This disposition intersects with the operation planned for the house: a lower level to receive family members, holding the house common areas, and an upper floor exclusively for the owners. The intermediate space between each half of the home also enjoys access to a semi-enclosed terrace, which is covered by a wooden lattice overhead.
The interiors are crisp and minimal, with a few splashes of color brought in by the occupant’s furniture and belongings. A pastel-blue bookshelf runs along the walkway between each half of the home. Its open shelves allow light to filter through, keeping this corridor airy and bright. Matching cabinets provide storage in the open-plan kitchen.
