Set on a hillside on the outskirts of Villa La Angostura, Neuquén, this single-family house seeks to engage directly with the Patagonian landscape of mountains and lakes. The two-hectare plot, with a level change of almost twenty metres, lies beyond the town centre, in a low-density area dominated by the natural landscape. From its highest point, the site offers exceptional views of Lakes Nahuel Huapi and Correntoso, framed by mountain ranges on the horizon. These topographical and visual conditions led to the decision to place the house at the highest point of the plot. The client asked for a single-storey home combining generous social spaces with areas offering genuine privacy. Local regulations also required pitched roofs with a minimum slope of thirty degrees.
The main house unfolds along a linear plan running perpendicular to the northern views. A central circulation spine orders the layout, with principal rooms facing north and service areas to the south. Along this axis, a series of spatial voids separate the different parts of the programme,
providing the required privacy and enriching the route with cross views of the landscape. A separate guest house sits slightly rotated to the south, together with the main volume creating an outdoor space used as a carport.
Material choices reinforce the building’s organisation and orientation. The service areas to the south employ stone-clad walls and carefully controlled openings that bring in soft, diffuse light. The north-facing living spaces, by contrast, are defined by a series of laminated timber frames and large glazed openings that open the interior to the landscape. The laminated-timber roof acts as a unifying element: a succession of pitched planes that shift in height as they move along the plan, rising above the living area to accommodate a small mezzanine. Externally, this sequence produces a silhouette that echoes the surrounding mountains, strengthening the building’s relationship with its setting.
Laminated Timber Structure — Design and Assembly
The laminated timber structure was central to the design approach. Conceived to remain fully exposed, it shapes the character of the interior through its inclined planes, shifting heights and interlocking geometries. The timber needed to work in tandem with the reinforced concrete structure that forms the service wing, and the junction between the two systems demanded particular care to maintain coherence in both form and construction.
Adjustment mechanisms were incorporated to reconcile the precision of laminated timber with the broader variations typical of concrete work. Embedded steel plates, pre-assembled connections and components designed with a degree of flexibility allowed the structure to be fine-tuned during installation. These measures ensured a seamless relationship between the two systems and allowed the complexity of the design to be realised accurately on site.
