- Project: OT House
- Architect: DARP – De Arquitectura y Paisaje
- Location: Colombia, Envigado, Antioquia
- Year: 2022
- Area: 470 m2
- Photography: Mauricio Carvajal
A Contemporary Garden House Rooted in Tradition and Topography
Tucked into a verdant plateau at the foot of a gently sloping lot in Envigado, Antioquia, OT House by DARP – De Arquitectura y Paisaje reimagines residential architecture through a delicate balance of spatial logic, material sensibility, and environmental integration. Instead of imposing itself on the landscape, the house emerges as a series of architectural gestures that reveal and enhance its natural context, evoking a poetic interplay of volume, light, and landscape.
Commissioned by a private client wishing for a residential experience that harmonizes interior life with the surrounding forested terrain, OT House translates vernacular patio traditions of Antioquian architecture into a modern spatial system. The result is a residence that feels both timeless and contemporary, expressing a deep respect for place and a refined architectural discipline.
Site Strategy: Terrain, Vegetation, and Spatial Progression
The site, located on a plateau at the base of a sloping hillside and embraced by lush vegetation and a small forest, sets the tone for the project’s architectural response. Rather than working against the terrain, DARP engages it rigorously by distributing the program across three longitudinal volumes aligned with the natural contours of the land. These volumes—social/service, private, and central pavilion—shift and perforate to articulate spatial relationships and connections with the environment.
Access to the house is via a central pavilion that doubles as an intermediary space: a foyer, interior courtyard, and study conceived as interconnected volumes without solid walls, framed instead by glass that maintains visual continuity with the forest beyond. This central void becomes both a physical and experiential threshold between interior and exterior, inviting light and landscape deep into the home.
Spatial Organization: Tradition Reinterpreted
OT House’s planning strategy is rooted in the time-honored typology of the traditional patio house—a model central to Antioquian colonial architecture. The project rescues and reinterprets this spatial archetype by placing a garden courtyard of aquatic plants and native vegetation at its heart, generating a dynamic spatial nucleus that enhances natural ventilation, daylight distribution, and visual continuity throughout the residence.
Each pavilion circulates around this central garden, animating the experience of transition and enclosure. The social and service pavilion, oriented toward communal life, opens fully toward a covered terrace and exterior gardens, blurring boundaries between indoor and outdoor living spaces. In contrast, the private pavilion houses bedrooms and intimate spaces nestled against the hillside, sheltered from noise and oriented toward forest and mountain views.
Materiality and Craft: Brick, Glass, and Structural Rhythm
Material expression in OT House is both rigorous and empathetic to context. The project’s architectural vocabulary is anchored in the modulation of exposed brickwork, where a single spatial module (1.8 m by 6 m) dictates proportions, structural logic, and construction efficiency. This strategy not only rationalizes material use and reduces waste but also lends a rhythmic coherence to walls that act as both structure and spatial filter.
Brick weaves and thickness modulation create a tactile façade that modulates light and shadow while framing views of the landscape with calibrated transparency. Complemented by wood, glass, and metal details, the material palette reinforces both durability and warmth, anchoring the architecture in a grounded yet elegant material apprehension.
Environmental Integration and Everyday Life
The architectural composition of OT House prioritizes environmental responsiveness. The long façades are oriented north–south to facilitate natural light and ventilation, while covered terraces on the western side act as solar protection devices, enabling significant openings toward the property’s scenic conditions without compromising thermal comfort.
Inside, spatial sequences unfold with clarity and calm. Rooms cascade from public to private through the articulation of the three volumes, each connected through the central courtyard and glazed circulation spaces that reinforce a continuous relationship with the outside. The interplay of solid and void—mass and transparency—cultivates an atmosphere that feels both protective and open, fostering everyday life that is intimate yet connected to place.
A Contemporary Interpretation of Local Architectural Identity
OT House by DARP – De Arquitectura y Paisaje stands as a compelling example of contemporary domestic architecture rooted in tradition, landscape, and material intelligence. Its thoughtful spatial organization, grounded material palette, and integration of courtyard dynamics underscore how modern design can reinterpret vernacular forms to produce architecture that is both contextually resonant and deeply humane.
This residence demonstrates a measured and enduring architectural approach—one where structure and landscape enrich human experience, and where every element contributes to a seamless dialogue between the built world and the natural environment.
