Project Name: House CO

Location: Santo Domingo, Chile

Design Team: Estudio Base Arquitectos

Building Area: 310 m²

Completion Year: 2024

Photography: Marcos Zegers

Design Features: House CO by Estudio Base Arquitectos emerges from the Chilean coastline as a masterclass in adaptive architecture, where ingenious spatial planning meets coastal living's demanding requirements. Positioned on a challenging narrow plot in Santo Domingo, this 310 square metre residence demonstrates how thoughtful design can transform site constraints into compelling architectural opportunities. The project's brilliance lies in its capacity to oscillate between intimate sanctuary for two and expansive gathering space for ten, achieving this flexibility without compromising spatial quality or visual coherence.

The defining gesture is the semi-subterranean strategy: by partially embedding the structure and anchoring it to the plot's boundaries, Estudio Base Arquitectos cleverly circumvented height restrictions while maximizing buildable volume. This bold move yields dual benefits, protection from relentless coastal winds and the creation of multiple internal courtyards that flood the submerged levels with natural light, preventing any sense of confinement. This strategic site intervention transforms physical constraints into design assets, utilizing the embedding of architecture within topography to achieve additional floor area while maintaining respect for the surrounding context. The creation of internal courtyards not only resolves illumination challenges but becomes the organizing principle for the entire residence, ensuring all areas enjoy abundant natural daylight.

Central to the architectural narrative is the light box stairwell, a vertical sculpture that transcends mere circulation. This luminous void connects all three levels, from underground parking through communal spaces to the private master suite, functioning as both spatial anchor and atmospheric conduit that channels daylight deep into the home's core. The stairwell serves as the building's spine, connecting floors not only visually but also functionally and emotionally, unifying the entire residential experience. The layered penetration of light through this vertical space creates time-varying shadow effects, endowing the interior with vitality and dynamic beauty.

The upper volume presents a striking compositional contrast: a lightweight timber-clad metal structure appears to float effortlessly above the robust concrete base, its dramatic cantilevered window capturing panoramic ocean vistas. This hovering quality is no accident but a deliberate expression of the building's programmatic hierarchy, with privacy ascending vertically alongside the views. The second floor, designed as a private penthouse space, combines the master bedroom with optimal sea views, while its light construction dialogues with the heavy lower levels. This contrast of weight and lightness is not merely a visual strategy but reflects the functional transition from public to private, from ground to sky. The large cantilevered window frames the ocean landscape as the core element of the living experience, bringing natural beauty indoors as the backdrop of daily life.

The programmatic distribution unfolds systematically across three levels: the underground level accommodates parking and service areas, providing necessary logistical support for daily living; the ground floor focuses on communal activity areas with intimate courtyard connections, encouraging interaction and recreation as the social heart of family life; the second floor is exclusively dedicated to the master suite, offering privacy and optimal sea views, forming an ideal retreat space. This vertical functional stratification not only optimizes spatial efficiency but creates clear spatial hierarchy, enabling the residence to flexibly accommodate different scales of occupation.

Material honesty defines the aesthetic: raw concrete grounds the lower levels while warm timber cladding humanizes the elevated bedroom pavilion. This material choice creates harmonious contrast and contemporary aesthetic expression, presenting modernity within a highly traditional context. The expansive glazing serves as a distinctive feature, designed to maximize natural light penetration during the day. As evening falls, these glass surfaces transform into true mirrors, reflecting the natural surroundings and nearby vegetation, further integrating the house within its coastal landscape. The layered use of materials is not merely a response to functional requirements but a vehicle for architectural poetic expression, creating rich sensory experience through the weight of concrete, warmth of timber, and transparency of glass.

House CO's defining characteristic lies in its contemporary interpretation of coastal living and innovative spatial practice. The design achieves delicate balance between urban chaos and interior tranquility by having architecture and nature embrace rather than merely coexist. The semi-subterranean configuration serves not only as a functional solution but becomes a core element of spatial experience, transforming physical limitations into design opportunities. The project proves that thoughtful design can create timeless oases that feel worlds away from urban clamor within dense coastal environments through strategic site utilization and innovative structural application, while maximizing the penetration of natural light and ocean vistas. This residence not only fulfills functional requirements but provides an architectural manifesto on contemporary coastal living, demonstrating how flexibility, sustainability, and architectural ambition can converge into coherent residential experience.

Design Team: Estudio Base Arquitectos stands as a testament to rigorous design thinking and contextual sensitivity within Chile's contemporary architectural landscape. Established in 2012 by Cristián Larraín J. (1985–2024) and currently led by founding partner Gonzalo Ramírez V. (1985), the Santiago-based practice has cultivated a distinctive methodology grounded in collaborative problem-solving and material integrity.

The firm's approach transcends conventional architectural services, functioning as a comprehensive design laboratory that orchestrates multidisciplinary collaborations with artists, lighting consultants, landscape architects, and industrial designers. This integrative working model enables the studio to navigate diverse scales and typologies with equal proficiency, from intimate residential interventions to complex institutional commissions. Central to their practice philosophy is a holistic project delivery framework that maintains continuity from conceptual inception through construction execution. Each commission undergoes rigorous analysis of geographic, cultural, and environmental parameters, ensuring architecture emerges organically from site-specific conditions rather than imposed formal agendas.

The studio treats construction as an evolving craft, where structural logic and materiality inform spatial experience, with meticulous attention devoted to detailing and tectonic expression. This philosophy manifests in their comprehensive design approach that addresses projects from structural conception through material selection and construction methodologies. The firm maintains deep sensitivity to territorial understanding and geographical context, creating spaces that invite inhabitation, connection, and lasting memory within Chile's built environment.

Under Ramírez's continued leadership, Estudio Base Arquitectos demonstrates that architectural excellence stems from deep engagement with client aspirations, territorial understanding, and unwavering commitment to creating meaningful spatial experiences. The practice's work reflects continuous learning and refinement across years of practice, from general conceptual frameworks to specific construction details. Their portfolio showcases remarkable versatility across different scales and themes, establishing the firm's hallmark as a practice capable of delivering thoughtfully crafted architecture that responds authentically to each project's unique conditions while maintaining the highest standards of design integrity and material craftsmanship.