The Chacala House was a rest house which includes the social areas and master bedroom on the ground floor overlooking the sea, four bedrooms to accommodate a family in each, and service areas. A huge fig tree, a palm tree and visual openings to the sea were the conditioning for the house.
photography by © Onnis Luque
The palm serves to confine a courtyard entrance where vegetation dialogues with the apparent structure, they welcome and announce what will be the theme of the whole house: a grid of columns and beams like an skeleton that modulate, order, delimit and qualify the different spaces.
photography by © Onnis Luque
The main enclosure conforms a palapa that houses open living and dining room, adjoining a pool that serves the auction house, which dilutes its border with the ocean horizon is located.The palapa is complemented on one side by a patio deck on the axis marked by the fig tree, which is followed by another backyard that introduces light and vegetation to the family room area. The bedroom is located at the beginning of the same axis, and through the sequence of courtyards, you also enjoy the scenery without losing your privacy.
photography by © Jaime Sicilia
A semi-open staircase leads to the four bedrooms upstairs modulated under the same order and thatched by two palapas, which generate a double height housing the bath with a timber closure on which a loft is enabled.The house can live as closed or open as you want, allowing you to enjoy the sea breeze and vegetation that seeks to introduce the jungle immediate context by a rich variety of species. The apparent materials, palapas and wood, aimed at producing a “natural and relaxed” atmosphere. This is a house to live, to see, to relax or simply be.
photography by © Onnis Luque
Project Info:
Architects: CoA Arquitectura , Estudio Macías Peredo
Project Location: Chacala, Mexico
Project Year: 2014
Project Area: 375.0 sqm
Photographs: Onnis Luque, Jaime Sicilia
Construction: CoA arquitectura
Collaborators: [CoA arquitectura], Arq. Saraí Chávez , Arq. Raúl Miranda, [ESTUDIO MACIAS PEREDO] Arq. Carlos Mendiola
Architect in Charge: Arq. Francisco Gutiérrez Peregrina [CoA arquitectura], Arq. Magui Peredo Arenas, Arq. Salvador Macías Corona [ESTUDIO MACIAS PEREDO]
Sophie Tremblay is a Montreal-based architectural editor and designer with a focus on sustainable urban development. A McGill University architecture graduate, she began her career in adaptive reuse, blending modern design with historical structures. As a Project Editor at Arch2O, she curates stories that connect traditional practice with forward-thinking design. Her writing highlights architecture's role in community engagement and social impact. Sophie has contributed to Canadian Architect and continues to collaborate with local studios on community-driven projects throughout Quebec, maintaining a hands-on approach that informs both her design sensibility and editorial perspective.