nestled in the tropical ecuador landscape, casa llona responds to adverse climatic circumstances

Pablo Vallejo builds Casa Llona in tropical Ecuador landscape

Nestled in the mountainous area of Pichincha in Ecuador, Casa Llona was built by Pablo Vallejo and David Ribadeneira to accommodate the region’s adverse climatic conditions. Surrounded by lush tropical biodiversity and threatened by hefty rains and superior humidity, the construction uses metal and wood to create a strong cabin with a negligible carbon footprint. The dwelling has a permeable character with a exclusive climatic behavior that will allow air to passively dissipate by way of openings in the reduced and upper walls. The consequence is a residing atmosphere that is relaxed in both of those a general and environmental perception, letting residents to appreciate day by day lifetime to the fullest.

Casa Llona settles in the mountainous location of Pichincha in Ecuador | all photographs courtesy of JAG Studio

a light-weight nonetheless tough cabin

Casa Llona is found in the middle of the cloud forest in the tropical mountains of the Chocó, a habitat positioned in a hostile natural environment characterized by hard climatic and geographic situations and natural threats.

With this in head, Pablo Vallejo and David Ribadeneira chose a materiality palette that can take gain of industrial aspects such as steel to develop a sturdy structure that guarantees an optimum balance involving consumer consolation and the ecosystem. Likewise, the architect selected products that do not have to have finishing or regular routine maintenance. Plywood is utilized for its structural and useful qualities, though walls produced of plaster and cardboard kind a light-weight but sturdy and resistant cabin. The purpose is to reach a lower carbon footprint with a construction that does not take in considerably drinking water or make squander, without the need of resorting to external formwork or fillings, and that compares favorably with other sorts of construction these as industrialized picket constructions or rustic wooden.

walls created of plaster and cardboard sort a light-weight, yet robust and resistant cabin

the great importance of the porch in Casa Llona

The purely natural adversity of the area suggests that a right way of everyday living in it is achievable only if the residence balances the insulation of inner actions in opposition to humidity and tropical threats, specifically bugs. Nevertheless, this insulation have to produce a period of time in which to be outdoors, with out sophisticated spatial mechanisms, but instead applying proven methods these kinds of as the porch. The porch, whose traditional weather tactic was developed in the Mediterranean region for a ‘hot-dry’ climate, is employed in Ecuador to develop transitional areas, predominantly involving the public and personal spheres.

In Casa Llona, the porch has the similar target: To build comfort and environmental enjoyment. Its spatial use is typically applied as a single-tale cantilever that generates a shaded area on the facade to which it is hooked up. In this job, the cantilever was modified to work with the common roof, generating a double-top porch that also shields the property. It retains the rain off the glass facade while enabling complete illumination of the home to move through, an crucial evaluate in a weather in which fog generally rolls in.

the roof safeguards the residence by preserving the rain off the glass facade while enabling the illumination of the home

accomplishing interior comfort and ease

The weather tactic of the interior is offered by the continuity of the quantity of indoor air. The bedrooms are not shut by partitions. Hence, the upper strip stays open up, so that the indoor air is renewed passively and by openings in the lessen and higher partitions. In addition, the property has a quite high thermal insulation. This is partly due to the truth that the shell is made up of a floating ground slab, which allows the circulation of soil humidity. This blocks capillarity, which is accompanied by a floating base piece that also supports the edge of the walls, which are created of 3 layers of plaster, cardboard (inside of) and fiber cement (outside). 

‘We ought to try to remember that the issue inside of is not the chilly, but the humidity that dissipates with cross air flow, which is obtained with wall openings and the alternative of windows and doorways. A technique that does not use any mechanical or electrical mechanism for air alternative.’ the architects demonstrate.

the composition makes it possible for air to passively dissipate by means of openings in the reduce and upper walls