Casa Refugio
Located in the suburbs of Santiago de Querétaro, within an increasingly dense residential area, Casa Refugio was born as a dwelling that prioritizes privacy, flexibility, and family life. From the street, the house appears as a contained, almost hermetic, volume that shelters its interior and creates an atmosphere of calm from the very first moment.
The entrance does not reveal the house immediately; instead, the path unfolds slowly until reaching the social area—living room, dining room, and kitchen—where a large, rear garden appears as a visual anchor. In this space, the vegetation grows to embrace the walls. There are no distant perspectives; the view is contained and drawn inward, creating an intimate atmosphere. Curtains blur the boundaries of this area, transforming it into a permanent presence that is never fully exposed.
The staircase, enclosed within a barrel vault, becomes the main axis of the home. It connects the spaces, filters the light, and accompanies the daily movement between the different levels.
On the first floor, the family study is situated next to a double-height interior garden. A large window wraps around the space, providing a constant relationship between the site, the vegetation, and the shifting light throughout the day and year. At sunset, skylights in the roof project reflections of color onto the walls of the interior patio, creating a contemplative space. Also on this level, the bedrooms extend beyond their boundaries toward gardens that foster a natural and intimate atmosphere.
The primary bedroom, located on the second floor, is organized around a large, curved, board-formed concrete volume. This volume subtly conceals the bathroom, avoiding the rigidity of an orthogonal wall or a completely closed partition. This volume defines the space and guides the transition between the bedroom and bathroom. A circular skylight above the tub directly illuminates the space, turning the bathroom into a quiet reprieve from the daily routine. In contrast, a workspace opens toward the double-height living area on the first floor, maintaining a visual and acoustic connection to it. Rather than isolating spaces as one ascends, the design preserves the natural closeness among inhabitants, allowing life to unfold across different levels without having to go downstairs constantly to meet.
In the roof garden, the house transforms. The elements that bring light into the interior, such as domes, skylights, and curved forms, emerge as autonomous pieces. Initially conceived as a space for contemplation, this level has been reimagined as a play area, where the architecture becomes a performance space rather than merely a container.
Casa Refugio embodies a philosophy of living in harmony with the passage of time. It is a dwelling that evolves and adapts to life's moments, whether it's the time of day or the season of the year. This sensitivity also extends to the relationship with the landscape, which is present throughout the home via courtyards, contained gardens, and voids that bring nature closer. The house is designed so that the levels remain connected visually, acoustically, and through daily presence. This allows domestic life to remain present between one space and another, ensuring that the levels do not become separate worlds.
