House in the Forest by Grupo Arquitectura is located in a suburb of Mexico City and features an outdoor elevated glass walkway offering views to the lush green courtyards below and connecting two concrete volumes – one that includes the living, dining and kitchen areas and the other for the services and private rooms.
Aside from a glass used in the walkway and the concrete on the two volumes, House in the Forest consists of wooden beams, a steel frame and large spans of glazing to take advantage of the panoramic ocean views.
A double sided steel fireplace has been located so that it can be enjoyed from an outdoor terrace as well as from the living room.
The living room is double volume and is wrapped in glass to take advantage of the amazing treed views.
Overlooking the sunken living room is the dining area which is large enough to easily hold a square 12 seat dining table.
Behind the dining room and partially hidden behind screens is the home’s incredible stainless steel kitchen. Aside from the functional design, laid out to easily accommodate more than one cook, I love the selection of suspended air plants in the corner.
To integrate the interior with the surrounding forest and to ensure lots of natural light, Grupo Arquitectura designed the home with hallways that travel along the glazings.
Aside from the interior walkways, there is also the glass floored walkway that connects the two volumes.
The outdoor walkway overlooks the family room downstairs.
As with the living room upstairs the family room is double volume and is all about the views.
A concrete stairwell connects the different levels.
The family room is on the 2nd floor and is where the media center is located.
Grupo Arquitectura where very careful in the design process to accommodate pre-existing trees in the home’s layout.
To protect against direct sunlight, certain facades have been clad with aluminum Brise Soleil sunshades and this as well as the orientation and high thermal mass, the house remains at a comfortable temperature throughout the year.
Grupo Arquitectura
Photography by Agustin Garza
Designing and building a home in a dense forest climate is no easy task and usually such homes are much smaller in scale than House in a Forest and often they are prefab as well. In fact in the Brazilian Costa Verde Rain-forest a prefab home was designed with a Galvalume sheet barrel roof.
