1/15/22, 3:50 PM San Felipe Refuge, a House in Páramo / Rubén Gómez Gañán | ArchDaily

San Felipe Refuge, a House in Páramo / Rubén Gómez

Gañán

Curated by Clara Ott

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HOUSES, HOUSE INTERIORS • LA CALERA, COLOMBIA

Architects:  Rubén Gómez Gañán

Area:  80 m²

Year:  2020

Photographs:  Mateo Pérez Correa

Manufacturers: AutoDesk, AM Ferreteria, Corona, McNeel

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Text description provided by the architects. Situated over 3,000 meters above sea level in the
Chingaza Moor, this small-scale lodge is designed to be a space for both escaping from city
dynamics and offering its inhabitants the opportunity to immerse themselves in the surrounded
ecosystem. The project is located one hour away from Bogotá, in the hillside of a moor mountainous
body where an extended group of bird species and plants make this place unique. In order to foster
interactions between nature and the project’s inhabitants, the composition of the house is based on
two modules connected by a glass tunnel which not only collects the sun's rays to make the interior
space warmer, but also to trigger a direct relationship between a hummingbirds garden on the east
and an open view to the San Rafael reservoir on the west. A space that enjoys a climate that can be
around zero degrees at night, and over 20 degrees during day.

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Continuing with the intention of producing a space of reflection and honest materiality, pine wood
slats wraps the area from floor, walls and ceiling, making the interior cozy and minimalist. A large-
scale window in each module complements the wooden-based interior, that not only captures daily
sunsets, but also welcomes the thermal energy produced by the sun to bring warmth and comfort to
those very often cold nights at this altitude. In contrast to the wooden interior, the exterior aims to be
an austere body to fit in the surrounding context. Through a black metal façade, the house erects
itself to blend in with the gray tones of the moor sky. At night, the building disappears because of
the dark color of the façade. Only the large windows, wood and artificial lights stand visible to give
the sensation of two floating lights over night.

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Finally, the value of the project not only relies on designing a lodge to understand the natural habitat
in which is built, but also to foster diverse encounters between its human and non-human
inhabitants of the mountain; a garden of hummingbirds that dialogues in the center of the space, a
window that offers a sunset in the moorland landscape, a west window that frames the mountains of
Chingaza, are some of the key architectural features that this house seeks to present.

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