Grand window fronts peaceful courtyard inside Abraham Cota Paredes' V House
A spindly crucifix-like frame supports a huge window overlooking a patio inside this Mexican residence by architect Abraham Cota Paredes (+ slideshow).
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_171-e1452794794544.jpg)
Locally based Abraham Cota Paredes Arquitectos designed V House for a built-up plot on the outskirts of Guadalajara, a city in Mexico's Jalisco state.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_110.jpg)
Its 355-square-metre plan is arranged over two levels, and an eight-metre height difference between the front and back of the site affords the rooms at the rear views over the city.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_3.jpg)
The internal patio splits the house into two and also provides a private outdoor space for the family. It hosts a single tree and a pool of water, and is enclosed on four sides but left open to the sky to provides the house with natural light and ventilation.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_141.jpg)
The tall window with a wooden cross-shaped frame spans the height and breath of one side of the patio to create a "spatial continuity or fluidity" between the ground and first floors.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_51.jpg)
This design takes its cues from a similar window found in Casa Luis Barragán, the self-designed residence of the late Pritzker Prize winner Luis Barragán, who was born in Guadalajara.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_91.jpg)
"A wooden cross reminiscent of Barragán seems to float in space, framing the patio," said the studio. "Water, tree and light, fill the space with an aura of serenity."
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_41.jpg)
The dark wood of the window frame is repeated in the stair treads that cantilever from the white wall opposite the patio and in a wide pivoting door that forms the entrance.
This detailing offsets the white walls and pale marble used to finish the rooms throughout.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_101.jpg)
The house has a top-heavy structure created by a recess at ground level that provides a sheltered parking spot. A second recess in the overhanging first-floor level provides a balcony that provides views of the street.
This top-heavy form follows the form of another residence by the firm in the Mexican city, an introspective house that frames views of the sky and garden instead of the street.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_121.jpg)
"Formally the house seeks to be a solid with the least possible subtractions," said Abraham Cota Paredes. "Two subtractions generate the main facade."
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_191.jpg)
A bedroom and en-suite bathroom sit behind the windowless facade to one side of the ground-floor entrance, while an open-plan living space with a large floor-to-ceiling window occupies the back two thirds of the space.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_111.jpg)
Three further bedrooms are set around the stairwell on the first floor. Two are connected by the street-facing balcony but the third i at back of the site.
![V House by Abraham Cota Paredes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/V-House_Abraham-Cota-Paredes_Guadalajara_dezeen_936_13.jpg)
A further flight of steps leads to an orange-tiled roof terrace, where low white walls permit views to the east over the city and a white steel pergola will eventually provide a climbing frame for planting.
Photography is by Cesar Béjar.
Project credits:
Architecture: Abraham Cota Paredes Arquitectos
Collaborators: Álvaro Beruben Galván
Construction: Abraham Cota Paredes Arquitectos
Structural engineer: Romvir Engineering
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