The small two-storey block adjoins the southern corner of the Hydro Aluminium factory, where it serves as an administrative block for the Norwegian metal company.

Adamo-Faiden teamed up with Estudio Silberfaden to design the offices, which feature floor-to-ceiling windows and glazed internal partitons to increase natural light.

There's also a terrace and garden covering the roof, protected behind a wire fence.

A steel staircase connects both office levels with the top floor terrace. Behind it, doors lead through to the main building on each storey so the stairs can also be used by employees inside the factory.

"This pavilion annex wants to answer two specific needs," explain Marcelo Faiden and Sebastian Adamo. "First, to build office space for administrative, technical and management areas, and secondly, to incorporate a circulation system linking the levels of both buildings and finishing in an open area."

Adamo-Faiden often design buildings with terraces on the rooftops, including a building that could be either offices or apartments, and the recently completed house Casa Martos. See more architecture by Adamo-Faiden.

Other recent projects in Argentina include black-painted housing in Patagonia and a house with an exceptionally tall front door. See more architecture in Argentina.

Photography is by Gustavo Sosa Pinilla.

Above: site plan

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan

Above: roof plan

Above: cross section

Above: front elevation

Above: side elevation

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by Adamo-Faiden and Estudio Silberfaden appeared first on Dezeen.

Located in Villa Adelina, a suburb in the north of Buenos Aires, the two-storey Casa Martos butts up against a neighbouring commercial building of the same height and Adamo-Faiden has matched the proportions of the volumes to tie together the conflicting architectural styles.

The facade of the house faces south-west, which architect Marcelo Faiden explains was to bring in natural light and prevent any issues with overlooking windows from the other two properties. "This decision allowed us to cover the ten-metre-high party wall, maintaining the existing sunlight and generating long views to the new house," he said.

The balcony shelf protrudes from this glazed elevation behind a layer of metal fencing, creating a ledge of plants beside the first floor window. Faiden added: "From the inside, the vegetation of the double enclosure seems to merge with the patio of the next plot."

A small room and garage occupy the ground floor of the house, while the bedroom, bathroom and living room are positioned on the first floor.

The architects compare the project with Casas Lago, their first built project, which also features a rooftop terrace. "In both cases the new construction tries to create a relation with the urban fabric through an immaterial, open air room located on the terrace," said Faiden.

Since completing Casas Lago, Adamo Faiden has worked on a number of residential projects, including designs for social housing on top of existing homes and a housing block that could also be used as offices. See more architecture by Adamo Faiden.

See more architecture in Argentina »

Photography is by Cristobal Palma. See all our stories featuring Cristobal Palma's photos.

Here's a short description from Adamo-Faiden:

Martos House

The house is located in Villa Adelina, a neighbourhood in the north area of Buenos Aires suburbs where great commercial activities, industries and housing coexist.

The construction is close to the street in a lot where a prefabricated house already occupies the central area of it.

The characteristics of the buildings nearby, determine the position of the new house. An industrial building generates towards one side a 10 meters height division wall that is used to structure lengthwise the house while orientating all the interior spaces towards the garden of the opposite field.

A metal tray runs all along the structure length, becoming a shell for a new vegetation that gazes from the inside and seems to merge with the neighbouring garden.

Above: site plan - click above for larger image

Above: ground floor plan - click above for larger image

Above: first floor plan - click above for larger image

Above: roof plan - click above for larger image

Above: section aa - click above for larger image

Above: section bb - click above for larger image

Above: section cc - click above for larger image

Above: front elevation - click above for larger image

Above: rear elevation - click above for larger image

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Adamo-Faiden appeared first on Dezeen.

"Some of the traditional wooden houses of the area are painted black, and we tried to replicate that effect," architect Francisco Kocourek told Dezeen.

All three houses have pine frames and wooden walls, and only the roofing is metal. "We used to live and work in Norway where building entirely with wood is quite common," explained Kocourek.

The rectangular houses are joined to one another, but are staggered to frame outdoor spaces at the front and rear.

Intersecting angled roofs disguise the boundaries between the different dwellings and create sloping ceilings in some of the rooms.

Entrances are located beneath recessed porches, which give each house a partially sheltered driveway.

More cypress wood can be found inside the houses, where it is used for flooring, skirting boards, doors and window frames.

Ground-floor living rooms and kitchens face each other across small, partially covered patios that are walled on three sides and open out to the gardens.

Upstairs, bedrooms and bathroom sit beneath the slanted ceilings, which are covered with chunky chipboard.

Located in a neighbourhood sparsely populated with detached houses, the units were built according to new planning regulations instated to encourage row houses.

Other projects clad in blackened wood that we've featured include a pointy gallery and studio in Japan and a sauna that can be towed like a sled.

See all our stories about blackened wood »

See all our stories about Argentina »

The information below is from the architects:

CLF Houses

The project is located on a plot along a low density residential street in the neighborhood of “El Once”, approximately 400 meters off the principal boulevard of Villa La Angostura. In spite of its apparent centric location, there is a predominance of small isolated and unaligned single family houses, empty “urban” plots and large private properties. In addition to these characteristics you will find the compacted rubble of the street, the absence of sidewalks, urban furniture and light points and the great profusion of trees give the area an unstructured and open character. A recent change in the regulations was made to modify this situation. The goal is to achieve a higher density in the area, without intention of creating an urban street section, by encouraging the construction of new row houses. This change comes with a very strict set of rules regarding the choice of materials, the use of colors in the facade and the angles of the roof.

Isometric diagram

The assignment was to design and build three units of row houses, each one of two floors. The program consists of a living room, dining room, kitchen, toilet, and laundry room on the ground floor and two bedrooms and a complete bathroom on the upper floor. A patio is incorporated in each of the units to enrich the visual connections and to open up the ground floor. It also allows a solution for the heights in the project to satisfy both the program and the regulations. The decision is also taken to step the units linearly freeing one of the sides of the patio. These operations guarantee a greater and more homogeneous natural lighting of the units and allow the visual impact of the project and its immediate environment to be minimized. Indirectly a greater privacy in the garden expansions is achieved, and the visuals from the living rooms are controlled. Volumetrically the project is articulated to be understood as one unit. The inclined planes of the roofs link the units together and the walls are understood as a result.

Ground floor plan - click above for larger image

One of the challenges presented was to build the whole project entirely of wood, including the structure and all enclosures and finishes. Despite the profusion of wood as a material in the south of Argentina, the lack of specialized knowledge and of a specialized industry narrow its uses to isolated structural elements and interior and exterior finishes, often presenting pathologies caused by their poor implementation. An integral system used in Norway based on the indications and experience of the “Norges Byggforskningsinstitutt” (Research Institute of the Construction of Norway) was chosen for the project. The system was adapted to the climatic (higher temperatures, more intense rain, less accumulation of snow), the physical (need for calculating seismic proof structures, different types and quality of wood) and human (unskilled labor, need to assemble a workshop under construction) reality of Argentina.

First floor plan - click above for larger image

The system is based on a structure entirely made of wood which extends to its wooden finished facade. Between the layers a contiguous, controlled air chamber the constant ventilation of the wood is guaranteed, keeping it from rotting, prolonging exponentially the life of the project and the materials. The system also ensures a continuous and substantial layer of insulation, avoiding any cold bridges and providing high interior comfort and energy saving. The windows are solved with double glazing. The heating in the project is solved with a combination of a radiant floor and a strategically located, high-performance salamander. The material palette and colors are reduced to a minimum of black, white, wood and metal. The facade is made of cypress painted black and the separation of the planks is based on the module of the metal plate covering the roof. All interior walls are white, the floors are made in black granite on the ground floor and parquet made of cypress on the upper floor. All the rest of the woodwork is made in natural cypress.

Cross section - click above for larger image

The objective was to analyze and understand the potential of this type of program and the different typologies regarding their placement and appropriation of the land and the resolution of the spatial relationship established between the different units. The approach to the materialization of the project from the details and from the adaptation of a constructive system borrowed from a different background was a unique consequence of the desire to use local materials. For this the application of the system on the site had to be carefully considered in order to be able to transcend the abstraction of our drawn intentions.

Type: Row houses
Architecture: Estudio BaBO
Team: Francisco Kocourek, Francesc Planas Penadés, Marit Haugen Stabell
Collaborators: Marcos Buceta
Construction: Arq. Francisco P. Kocourek
Structure: Ing. Julio C. Pacini
Location: Villa la Angostura, Neuquén, Argentina
Plot Area: 1040 m2
Built Area: 310 m2
Project Year: 2009
Construction Year: Jan 2010 - May 2011

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Estudio BaBO appeared first on Dezeen.

This house in Argentina by local architects Arquinoma has a front door tall enough to let in a giraffe.

Located in the city of Mendoza, the two-storey Casa Besares is a white-rendered, rectilinear building with wooden floors and a concrete frame.

Square and rectangular windows are scattered across the facades, while a wooden staircase folds up between the floors.

Other Argentinian houses on Dezeen include one comprising stacked brick volumes and one wrapped in a band of concrete.

See more projects in Argentina »

Photography is by Pablo Betancourt.

Here's some more more text from Arquinoma:

Home Besares

The House, like nearly any other house, resolves itself by the addition of elements. In this project, such an addition looks for giving idea in mass. Precisely in a hollow mass. Once the mass is supposed, there starts the diagram of holes. Holes that are windows. Windows that are ways of looking. Ways of looking that are ways of living. Ways of living that are holes. (Some of such a size that make forget the mass).

Every window, like any other window, allows a relationship with the distance and nearness. We ask ourselves about distance and nearness in relation to the views of the field – it would be obvious – and also about other distances and nearness; above all, to these last ones, it deals with the availability of the house on the field and the succession of points of view that go with it.

So the window is understood as a detail; an empty detail. That’s the way the spaces focus on their specific functions as well as what can be seen through them. What to see, how to see, everything to see, nothing to see. (A wall is an end- way for the eye). Seeing a machine supposes a direction of going and coming from the eye to the outside, and the other way about. Going through a machine: go, come, go.

Project: ARQUINOMA –architecture studio-
Author: Arch. Sebastián Serrani
Supporting Team: Eng. Jorge Tanus / Arch. Nicolás Guerra / Arch. Julia Prieto
Surface Team: 220m2
Place: Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
Year: 2008

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by Arquinoma appeared first on Dezeen.

Argentinian architects Adamo-Faiden have completed a building in Buenos Aires that could either be used for offices or apartments.

The building contains six basic modular units that the architects claim would comfortably suit both possible uses, each featuring floor-to-ceiling heights of just over three metres.

Recessed balconies span both the front and back of the building and are filled with plants to help shade the interior spaces.

Car parking spaces are slotted beneath the building on the sunken ground floor and there's a shared garden on the roof.

Currently three of the units are being used as offices, two as apartments and one is providing a studio for an artist.

We've published a few projects by Buenos Aires studio Adamo-Faiden, including a club house in the middle of a lake. See them all here.

Photography is by Cristobal Palma.

Here's a little more information from Adamo-Faiden:

Once building

The building is situated in Núñez, a neighborhood whose development brings a balanced densification to the city of Buenos Aires. Its peripheral condition and efficient connectivity with the rest of the city turns it today into a desirable alternative for residential and tertiary programmes.

The building incorporates to its own organization this notion of mixed city through the construction of six spaces, which are programmatically undetermined but spatially specific, understanding that a path to the intensification of the inhabitating opens from this apparent contradiction.

The expansion of the internal free height to 3.15m. allows the existence of spaces with higher depth without losing the optimal comfort conditions that guarantee its habitability.

Achieving adepth and compact building that minimizes the energy exchange between the interior and the environment.

Click above for larger image

The enclosure is materialized with a vegetable mattress that protects the three facades exposed to the sun, while incorporating a space for leisure where nature finds its desired protagonism.

Click above for larger image

The microperforated awnings placed in both facades return towards the city a veiled picture of the vegetation they enclose, echoing the ambiguity the building is intended to set up.

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

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