Designed for a couple of climbers whose daily lives are closely connected to the outdoors, Casa Farallones is conceived as a lightweight intervention within a landscape of mountains and dense vegetation. Rather than enclosing its occupants from these surroundings, the house uses an open plan, extensive glazing and a central courtyard to make climate, vegetation and changing daylight part of everyday life.

Building lightly on the slope

The house is raised above the terrain on pilotis, reducing the extent of direct contact between the building and the sloping site. A lightweight metal structural system supports the residence, allowing the ground beneath to remain comparatively open and limiting the need to establish a heavy building footprint.

Above, a roof constructed with guadua, a locally familiar bamboo material, introduces a renewable, bio-based material into the building. Its natural texture contrasts with the precise metal structure and black-framed glazing, combining contemporary construction with materials closely associated with the Colombian context.

Passive comfort around a courtyard

An internal courtyard forms the environmental and spatial centre of the house. Organised around an existing tree that passes through the roof, the courtyard introduces daylight and natural ventilation into the surrounding rooms while providing shade and a cooler internal microclimate.

Large glazed openings maintain visual connections with the mountains and vegetation, while the permeable arrangement of spaces supports air movement through the house. Together, these strategies reduce the separation between conditioned interior space and the surrounding climate.

Living with the landscape

The planning reflects the occupants' outdoor-oriented lifestyle. Spaces for cooking, resting and gathering flow into one another without excessive internal divisions, allowing activities to shift according to weather, time of day and patterns of occupation.