SOLDADO DE LA INDEPENDENCIA

GUIDO CHOUELA

• Architekten

The 2020 pandemic generated a change in the way of appreciating open spaces of residential buildings, whether they are balconies or common spaces.

photo_credit GUIDO CHOUELA — GUIDO CHOUELA

In this case, it is about the remodeling and enhancement of the ground floor of a building, in front of the Argentine Polo fields, in the City of Buenos Aires: The cul de sac for vehicular and pedestrian access was converted into a coexistence street, between pedestrians and vehicles, with a subtle change of pavement to indicate these two sectors that are separated from the fields only by a centennial fence.

Between the concrete slab on the ground floor and the pavement, intermediate spaces are generated, limited by floor-to-ceiling windows to protect the lobby, which inside contains walls covered with melamine-like oak wood, mirrors that give the feeling of greater spaciousness and a wall with a 45-degree herringbone of silver enamel on a gray background hand-painted by a muralist.

In the ceiling of the corridor that leads to the patio, a hidden led lighting system bathes the right side wall that was treated with plastic coating to highlight its particular texture that resembles a stone, which even contains some mica crystals. The patio was transformed into a green terrace, with an automated irrigation system and planted with Bahian grass loaves, below this patio there are several underground parking spaces, so the insulation, the drains, the slopes and the devices to contain the garden were meticulously planned.

An above-ground swimming pool was made, covered in white Venetian mosaic, which can be accessed by a paved ramp with a precast concrete athermal deck or by steps that serve as benches.

We used a white corrugated sheet metal cladding from floor to ceiling in the form of a ribbon that unifies the exterior perimeter walls of both the front of the building and the interior patio, this does not reach the floor, it remains 15 cm above it, leaving the plinth and simultaneously making a hidden led lighting system that marks this cutout between vertical and horizontal planes.

We removed the surveging plaster that hid the 1900´s brick walls that belonged to the exterior walls of the house that was demolished in the courtyard, seeking the contrast between the industrial corrugated sheet metal and the handcrafted masonry.