Completion year: 2022 Gross built area: 270 m2 Project location: Mendoza, Argentina Program / Use: Residential architecture - Photo credits: Luis Abba

ME House is developed entirely on a single level on a plot within a gated community. The brief responded to a family with young children who required all bedrooms to be located on the same floor. Based on this premise, the project is organized around a central courtyard that articulates the entire house and structures the relationship between public and private areas. Access occurs between a stone wall and a wooden plane, leading into this courtyard, the true core of the project. The central void clearly separates the social zone from the private one, while ensuring northern sunlight—located along the side of the lot—and proper solar exposure for the bedrooms. The private wing is organized around a family lounge that distributes three bedrooms: the main bedroom facing the rear garden, and the other two opening onto a more intimate front patio, concealed within the façade. The most significant operation of the project is not to rise upward, but to excavate. The central courtyard extends down into a basement level, creating an acoustically and thermally contained environment. A study is located there, required by the owner to carry out professional work in a quiet space with stable temperature conditions. The excavation also made it possible to incorporate a wine cellar, generating a space distinct from the rest of the house. The social area is conceived as a large open plan where the living room, kitchen, and family room connect seamlessly and extend toward the gallery and gardens. The central courtyard enhances cross ventilation and natural light, regulating the environmental performance of the house. The house was built using noble and durable materials: stone, natural wood, exposed concrete slabs, and glass. An austere palette that supports the project’s central operation—a courtyard that organizes the program and articulates domestic life.