Murillo Housing

Client: Grupo Inversor

The DNA of Murillo Housing originated in its implementation. As per our client's briefing, the challenge of this project was to position five 200m² duplex houses in a lot of 2630m² while imposing minimal interference with its existing wooded surroundings thus maximizing its harmony with nature. A major priority was to keep majestic trees adjacent to each house.

After additional studies on flow and illumination, we concluded that we could reach our objective by designing a cross shape plan accurately positioned in the terrain. This procedure resulted in an interesting rhythm where identical houses would have a distinct look from every viewpoint.

The shed style roofing and the emphasis on ethically responsible outdoor living with landscaped gardens bore out of our visit to the quaint neighborhood of Carrasco, Montevideo where we noticed a strong architectural identity established on the first half of the 20th Century with its simplistic beauty and soul. The alternating wooden and corrugated sheeting façade reveals a visual quality brought about by a meticulous choice of materials and building details such as corrugated charcoal gray sheets, wood, white plaster, glass and native vegetation. The double height wall is comprised of solar glass panels exposing the abundant outdoors vegetation while providing for cross ventilation. On the façade, either wood or corrugated sheeting, we purposely left a gap between it and the steel frame to resolve thermal insulation.

The Murillo Housing project was completed in 2020.