Los Hidalgos 0234 | Renovation in the Pedro de Valdivia Norte neighborhood
The self-commissioning to accommodate Marsino Arquitectura's new office started with the search for an old house in the Pedro de Valdivia Norte neighborhood with growth potential through the maximum preservation of its original structure to accommodate its expansion and subdivision into smaller housing units and shape a small mixed-use building on the scale of a residential neighborhood heavily impacted by the incorporation of a mall, a financial center and two concessioned highways that have accelerated its informal transformation into one of tertiary services for professionals, replacing its original residents who are affected by the insecurity that comes with depopulation after working hours.
The rationality of the original two-story structure composed of twelve 270 x 270 modules, was the detonator of a project that houses five rental apartments on its first two floors with access to patios for private use more in line with the function of inhabiting and an architectural office on the third floor that extends to the roof terrace on the fourth level to enjoy on one hand the nearby views towards the Metropolitan Park Cerro San Cristobal and on the other the built profile of the buildings in Providencia that stimulate the intellectual activity of its users.
The homogeneous height of two-story houses and neutral colors in their immediate surroundings, as well as the mixed use of the building, defined the dichotomous image of the proposal: a clear and solid base with a timeless appearance gives thermal shelter to the dwellings and above it a glazed metal structure covered with mobile textiles creates the right environment for an office that benefits from natural light in an open floor plan.