Argentinian studios Moarqs and Ottolenghi Architects designed this chunky concrete building to provide extra accommodation for a house in Buenos Aires Province (+ slideshow).
The cast concrete block named Pabellon Hinrichsen sits in the leafy grounds of the house, which is located in the suburbs of the city San Fernando.
Buenos Aires-based Moarqs and Ottolenghi Architects collaborated on the design of the 160-square-metre building, which includes a large lounge, bedrooms and a display area for the owner's car collection.
"The client wished for a construction that solves a multipurpose room to complement the main house," explained the architects.
"The programme has a temporary and flexible use," they added. "The interior was designed as a single large room, in which through a system of folding shutters you can close the bedrooms on the mezzanine when their use is required, creating privacy, darkness and acoustic insulation."
On the ground floor, the living room is set alongside a display space for two cars, while two bedrooms and a bathroom are located on a mezzanine level above.
The mezzanine is suspended from the ceiling on wires and overlooks the lounge through a long narrow atrium.
Shutters made from sheets of MDF can be folded across to separate the bedrooms from this well.
Wide sliding glass doors open the base of the building to the grounds, while large square windows set in aluminium frames are used to illuminate the upper floor.
Deep window sills are provided by the building's 34-centimetre-thick concrete walls.
The concrete was formed over laminated boards that imprinted subtle gridded indentions across the outer walls, while the interior is finished with smooth cement plaster.
Moarqs and Ottolenghi Architects previously worked together on the design of another concrete house in Buenos Aires Province. The home is wrapped by a broad concrete screen that blinkers bedroom windows from the street and directs views into a planted courtyard.
Photography is by Albano Garcia.
Project credits:
Offices: Moarqs, Ottolenghi Architects
Architects: Ignacio Montaldo, Eugenio Ottolenghi
Collaborators: Juan Charadia, Torunn Vaksvik Skarstad, Jerónimo Bailat, Sofia Tomaselli, Jhosangela Ramirez, Milagros Torres Davila, Andreina Medina, Maria Eugenia Grijalva Venegas
Structural engineers: Germán Comas, Fernando Saludas.
Client: Tomás Hinrichsen
Ablution: Eduardo Gamulin
Main contractor: Victoria Jaureguialzo, Nicolás Di Tulio
