Laverie

In Barichara, Colombia, more than 90% of traditional buildings are made of tapia pisada, rammed earth. The project lies in the rural area, on a plot occupied by a main house and its outbuildings. Living alone in a house that had become too large, the owner chose to move into the former laundry and rent out the main house.

The laundry had no roof, and its floors and materials had been left raw. The project turns it into a home by building on what was there: on the existing slab, no wall is added. The structure remains open, porous and reversible.

A bio-based roof in timber and caña brava, built by local craftsmen, now covers the whole. This regional know-how responds to sun, prevailing winds and rain, and contributes to the home's passive comfort.

New openings were created. They provide natural ventilation, frame views of the landscape and bring daylight inside.

The home takes up the language of the other buildings on the plot: the same roofing materials and the same lime-render finish. Together they form a coherent whole, rooted in the building culture of the place.

More an act of adaptation than of invention, the project turns a service space into a place to live, using the materials and skills of the region.