Iván bravo expands on casa tam’s original layout

Casa Tam has undergone a comprehensive renovation by Iván Bravo. rewrite house At the foot of the Andes, on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile. The project transforms a house that has already been extended twice into a new spatial continuity that lies between new construction and architectural palimpsest. Rather than erasing the past, renovation Using fragments of the original layout, they are extended and interwoven with axes from later interventions to form a layered domestic landscape that openly conveys its own history. The house lifts its facade and presents an urban face to the street. facade As a deliberate gesture as we turn away from the mountains behind us. Its roof follows the natural slope of the land, dropping almost to the ground, compressing the rear elevation into a thin, semi-buried strip, connecting the house directly to the garden. This movement anchors the building to its site while quietly reshaping its relationship with the surrounding landscape.

The house lifts its front facade as a deliberate gesture. All images by BARO

Chilean homes maintain a function-based interior plan

internal, architectThe plan is divided into two parts. An open double-height space facing the courtyard houses the living room and dining room alongside the master bedroom, forming a shared domestic core. Towards the street, more practical functions, namely the kitchen and the owner’s pottery studio, form a compact service building. Above, two children’s bedrooms are connected by a shared central studio, reinforcing the idea of ​​shared space through vertical tiering.

At the lower level, new reinforced concrete elements connect the different construction systems accumulated over time, acting as structural intermediaries between eras. In contrast, the upper floors are built as lightweight structures to respect the limitations of the original foundation, which was designed to carry only one-story buildings. This careful balance of weight and lightness allows the home to grow without overwhelming the past.

The entire volume is wrapped in a standing metal membrane, giving the house a monolithic presence.

Spatial fragments compose a multilayered domestic landscape

Material changes are intentionally left visible throughout the interior. The changes between old and new surfaces are unified only by a coat of white paint, and openings carved into the walls expose the original thickness and texture, revealing the house’s previous life. But on the outside, the entire volume is wrapped in a standing seam metal skin, giving the house a monolithic, almost abstract presence that hides the complexity of the interior.

The only completely new addition is the kiln room of the ceramics workshop, which appears in front of the main façade. The wood-clad, white-painted building stands a short distance from the house and marks the latest chapter in the ongoing rewriting process. It becomes not just an extension, but a silent signature, a plastic and programmatic tracking of the home’s latest transformation.

Roof line follows the natural slope of the land

The multi-layered domestic landscape openly conveys its own history