SIP Panel House by Alejandro Soffia and Gabriel Rudolphy

Amy Frearson | 28 April 2012 4 comments

Chilean architects Alejandro Soffia and Gabriel Rudolphy designed this house in Santo Domingo as a cluster of prefabricated modules made from structural insulated panels.

SIP Panel House by Alejandro Soffia and Gabriel Rudolphy

Each module is arranged at a perpendicular angle and some are stacked on top of one another, creating rooms with standard dimensions on two floors.

Named SIP Panel House, after the insulated structural panels that make up its walls, the house is clad with wood on only its north and south-facing elevations.

The largest windows are arranged across the western facade, which faces out towards the ocean. A series of small modular pathways and terraces slot into the corners around the house and are also covered with wooden panels, plus residents can climb up onto a wooden deck on the roof.

If you're interested in buildings with prefabricated elements and modular components you can see a few more we've published here.

Photography is by Felipe Fontecilla, apart from where otherwise stated.

Above: photograph is by Alejandro Soffia

Here's some more explanation from the architects:

SIP Panel House
Santo Domingo, Chile 2011

Built with SIP panels (Structural Insulated Panels), this house is conceived as an attempt to rationalize this construction material and achieve a maximum optimization of its structural and dimensional qualities. The totality of the house was configured with two kinds of components: wall panels (122 x 244 x 11.4 mm) and split-level panels (122 x 488 x 21 mm). In just 10 days, 71 wall panels and 40 split-level panels were built. The loss of material was negligible.

Through the configuration of spatial modules comprised of two wall panels and two split-level panels, inhabitable spaces measuring 6 square meters were built. These spaces are the result of multiplying these volumes along the length of their transversal axis according to standard surfaces of use. The house is comprised of the sum of these different spaces.

The spaces are grouped according to traditional programmatic similarities, and are united by a central circulation system. The principal rooms are clustered toward the north, in the quest for an ocean view. The panels exposed on the exterior are fashioned as terraces on the second and third floors.

Above: photograph is by Josefina López

The eastern façade of the house, close to a neighbor, is more closed-off, and the western façade opens up to the light and the view. The northern and southern faces of the house, as well as the terraces, are enveloped in a wooden skin.