Located in the tropical and mountainous region of Salento, Colombia, this house is exposed to steady vertical sun all year round. With Colombia’s close proximity to the equator, the sun angle changes very little throughout the seasons, posing an interesting design challenge of how to get functioning and beautiful light conditions deeper into each space.
This house uses primarily rammed earth construction or Tapia Pisada, which is a very common construction method in this area of Colombia. This material brings warmth to each space and accentuates the warm-tone sun of this area. Secondary walls are made of wood frame construction with a stucco finish, also typical of local Colombian houses. The hallways have a glass block ceiling construction, allowing these spaces to be used as light wells with interesting visual patterns
The configuration of the house was determined by aligning certain rooms and hallways along the east-west axis in order to maximize the amount of sunlight throughout the day. Rooms along this axis were then arranged based on their need for morning or evening sun. The glass block ceilings are used in conjunction with angled wedges with reflective materials to help bounce bright, indirect light deeper into spaces without having excessive overhead light. Areas that require bright steady light all day long are supplemented with solar tubes, another passive system that allows sunlight to travel down a reflective tube in the ceiling.