- Project: La Cumbre House
- Architect: LKDM Arquitectos
- Location: Chile, Vitacura, Región Metropolitana
- Year: 2019
- Area: 340 m2
- Photography: Nicolás Saieh
Elevating the View: Concept & Context
Perched on the slopes of the Cerro Manquehue in the affluent Vitacura district of Santiago, La Cumbre House presents a refined architectural response to a unique set of conditions. The clients inherited a large garden and a modest 1980s house that, though generous in scale, turned its back on the panorama: the Andes to the east, the city spread below and the summit of the hill to the north.
LKDM Arquitectos chose an approach that both respects the existing structure and intensifies the site’s potential: rather than demolish entirely, a portion of the pre-existing home is retained, and a new dwelling is conceived to fully engage with its surroundings. The result is a home that opens outward, both visually and materially, while emphasizing sustainability and integration.
Spatial Strategy & Architecture
The new house takes advantage of its elevated terrain to make the views the organising element. Large-format openings face north and east, framing the hillside and city beyond. At the same time, the south-facing façade is shaded by broad overhangs, preserving climatic comfort while allowing winter light to penetrate interior spaces. Part of the existing house’s foundations and first-floor walls are re-used, clad externally with insulation and recycled stone to avoid future maintenance and reduce the carbon footprint of new construction.
Inside, the organisation is built around passive-solar logic. The second floor allows sun in, which radiates downward to the first floor where the thermal mass of insulated walls collects heat; the continuous insulation also eliminates cold bridges and condensation problems that plagued the former house. Diverse window types are used—casement and projecting in private areas for better sealing, sliding large panels in common areas to open fully onto the garden. On hot summer days, the north-facing overhangs block direct radiation, while high windows and vegetated patios create cross-ventilation and evaporative cooling. A rooftop photovolatic system on the north plane further contributes to energy independence.
Materiality & Landscape Integration
The palette is composed of materials chosen for their durability, expressiveness and low-maintenance qualities. Recycled stone clads the retained structure, while new insertions combine timber, steel and glass accents—nodding to the modernist architectural heritage of the area yet clearly contemporary in articulation. The landscape, with mature trees and sweeping garden lawns, is largely retained and supplemented with native, low-water plants to optimise resource use and maintain continuity with the original setting. Through these choices, the house reads as both grounded in place and forward-looking.
Why La Cumbre House Stands Out
La Cumbre House is exemplary in its balancing act: between the old and the new, between architecture and nature, between view and enclosure. Many hillside homes merely plaster a large glazed façade across a slope – this project instead engages thoughtfully with site orientation, sustainability and material depth. It also offers a lesson in retrofit and adaptation: retaining part of the original home not for sentimentality but to reduce waste, reuse foundations and root the new dwelling more gently into the landscape.
From an architectural-journalism perspective, the house offers multiple compelling narratives: the recalibration of suburban hillside living in Santiago; the fusion of passive design strategies and contemporary living; the subtle reinvention of existing housing stock rather than wholesale replacement. It’s not flashy; instead it delivers a quiet sophistication rooted deeply in site, climate and context.
Final Reflections
In La Cumbre House, LKDM Arquitectos illustrate how a thoughtful, site-sensitive approach can yield a residence that is both quiet and powerful. Elevated views, refined material choices, layered spatial experience and sustainable strategy converge in a home that doesn’t shout but resonates. For anyone interested in hillside domestic architecture, retrofit strategies, or Chilean contemporary design, this project offers a rich case study of how architecture can open up to its environment without losing its composure.
