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Casa Ocal is a compact home in the Ecuadorian mountains, designed by the Quito-based architecture studio Jorge Ramón Giacometti Taller de Arquitectura. Made from locally available eucalyptus wood as well as recycled metal, the house features a gabled structure and is set in a hard-to-access location in the mountains to the north of Ecuador.
The brief for the architects was to design a 110-square-metre house within a limited budget in a remote location in the Ecuadorian mountains. Respecting the vernacular architecture of the mountainous region, the architects decided to keep the design simple and minimise disruption to the natural landscape.
Casa Ocal is a eucalyptus-wood house in the Ecuadorian mountains
The Ecuadorian architecture practice used eucalyptus wood and recycled metal for the gabled structure.
Casa Ocal is in the Ecuadorian Andes
Casa Ocal is raised on pilotis to allow rainwater to flow unobstructed down the hill beneath the house. The stilts also allowed for the creation of a level ground floor without any laborious and costly excavation.
Its gable end faces down the slope and is formed of a large covered porch that frames views of the mountains.
The house is raised on small stilts
Because of the difficulties presented by the location, the architects decided to whittle their design down to the simplest of forms and build it in a modular fashion.