Boza-Camus House

Casa Boza-Camus is located on the top of a small mountain at Dominicos district. The site is in the north size, looking at San Damián Valley and the imposing Andes mountain range. The site has a topography with a steep slope thus is like a natural overview point. The project is raised from the idea of promoting and exploit this condition and the relation between views and topography.

The familiar program is primarily on two levels which surrounds a central patio. The first one contains several bedrooms for children, the indoor swimming pool and technical room. The top level is also organized around this patio in two pieces: One side for the main room, bathroom and study, and the other for the kitchen and service area. Between these zone a flexible opened space is generated which consists on a terrace, the living and a library. This library is a very important programmatic element in the house because is something more than a piece of furniture. It is a folding screen between the patio and the exterior and is connected to the staircase.

About materials, the house is built in RC walls covered by the exterior with wood. As for the indoors, ceilings are in exposed concrete, while the walls are covered in coihue wood panels. The staircase and the frame of the main facade are in black steel. Glass, water and vegetation complete the materials list. Both the attention to details and the place, are the challenges around the development of a contemporary house feature and to meet the needs with respect to energy efficiency. This leads to the use of an roof by different native species of northern Chile and the disposal of photovoltaic panels. Thus, a heated pool 25mt, is transformed into a thermo for general home heating. The house is based on renewable energy and does not take gas.

In short, the project Boza-Camus proposes a way of inhabiting the slope around a large patio, turning the house into a lookout platform.