CCE House by ONA – Oficina Nomada de Arquitectura is a 170 m2 single-level residence in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza, organized as an introverted L-shaped plan behind a continuous board-formed concrete perimeter wall. The project uses controlled openings, narrow patios, and north-facing glazing to negotiate privacy, daylight, and seasonal climate within a semi-urban landscape at the foot of the Andes.
CCE House Technical Information
- ArchitectsONA – Oficina Nomada de Arquitectura
- LocationChacras de Coria, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
- Gross Area170 m2 | 1,830 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years2026
- Photographs© Luis Abba
The house emerges from the desire to create an introverted refuge that engages with its context through a logic of containment and controlled openness.
– ONA – Oficina Nomada de Arquitectura
Context, Boundary, and Urban Withdrawal
CCE House is located in Chacras de Coria, a district of Lujan de Cuyo where domestic plots, vineyards, poplar rows, and low-density development occupy the foothill territory of Greater Mendoza. The wider setting is not rural in a strict sense. Aerial views reveal a semi-urban fabric, with detached houses, larger residential volumes, and mid-rise construction sharing the horizon with the Andes. In this condition, the project avoids the open villa model and instead constructs a more defensive domestic edge.
The street facade is defined by a continuous board-formed reinforced concrete wall that runs across the building line. Its surface preserves vertical formwork joints, tie holes, pour marks, and chromatic variations, producing an exterior that is materially direct rather than polished. A slight shadow gap at the base gives the wall a measured separation from the ground, while pale metal gates introduce the only significant tonal deviation on the public elevation.
The entry sequence is the most spatially deliberate part of the boundary system. At one side of the wall, two curved concrete planes rotate inward to form a compressed pedestrian passage. Large concrete pavers with gravel joints slow the approach, while the narrowing geometry transforms arrival into a controlled threshold between street exposure and domestic enclosure. At dusk, ground-recessed lighting grazes the concrete surface from below, emphasizing the grain of the formwork and making the act of entry depend as much on texture and shadow as on plan geometry.
Single-Level L Plan and Program Organization
The house is organized on a single level with an L-shaped plan of 170 m2. One bar contains the principal living and sleeping areas, while the returning arm accommodates the semi-covered carport, barbecue area, and exterior expansion spaces. This configuration separates domestic privacy from more open support functions without relying on vertical hierarchy, making the plan legible through orientation, enclosure, and degrees of cover.
From above, the composition reads as two low volumes held beneath a corrugated metal roof and a continuous white parapet. The longer bar extends into the depth of the lot, while the shorter arm mediates between street, service access, and outdoor occupation. Horizontal louvers over the carport and barbecue area cast a striped shadow across the slab and adjacent concrete surfaces, producing shade without fully enclosing the space. The pergola is not treated as an applied light structure, but as part of the climatic and social threshold between the house and the open plot.
Along the south edge, a narrow service strip of approximately 1.50 meters contains bathrooms, support spaces, and a sequence of small enclosed patios. These patios function as rooms without roofs: bounded by curved concrete walls, surfaced with loose earth, and connected to the interior through full-height glazing. Rather than serving as decorative courtyards, they are technical and spatial devices, bringing light and air to rooms that would otherwise be pressed against the blind perimeter edge.
Orientation, Light, and Environmental Strategy
The principal rooms face north, a critical decision in Mendoza, where the northern exposure in the southern hemisphere allows winter solar gain and consistent daylight. Full-height white aluminum sliding doors extend along the north facade, opening the living areas toward patios and exterior courts. The glazing introduces a broad horizontal exposure, but the perimeter wall and interior courtyard logic prevent the house from becoming visually exposed to the surrounding neighborhood.
The L-shaped arrangement gives the social area a double orientation, with openings toward both exterior patios and narrow light wells. This produces cross-ventilation across the depth of the plan, allowing air movement between the north-facing glazed facade and the more protected southern cavities. The strategy gives the compact single-story layout greater environmental depth, using small voids and sliding planes rather than mechanical expression to address climate.
Light is modulated through several layers. Direct sun enters through the north openings during cooler periods, while sheer curtains soften glare and reduce the contrast between glass, floor, and ceiling. In the south patios, daylight is more vertical and indirect, shaped by the height and curvature of the concrete walls. The result is a house organized less around expansive views than around calibrated increments of brightness, enclosure, and filtered exposure.
Material Continuity and Domestic Atmosphere
Board-formed concrete is the project’s primary architectural instrument. It appears not only as an exterior perimeter system but also inside the dwelling, where one long wall of the living room retains the same rough texture, vertical jointing, and tonal variation visible at the street. This continuity allows the boundary wall to be read as an inhabited thickness rather than a separate enclosure, extending the logic of protection into the domestic interior.
The rawness of the concrete is moderated by a restrained interior palette. Smooth white ceilings, pale large-format flooring, soft grey kitchen joinery, timber accents, and translucent curtains establish a lighter domestic register around the heavier perimeter elements. In the open living, dining, and kitchen area, the island organizes social use without fragmenting the room, while the long glazed elevations and concrete sill create surfaces for inhabitation, display, and incidental occupation.
Artificial lighting reinforces the project’s attention to thresholds. Linear uplights along the curved entry walls expose the relief of the concrete at night, while warmer interior lamps and recessed ceiling fixtures distinguish occupied rooms from the darker exterior courts. In the carport and barbecue area, downlights and pergola shadows define an intermediate zone between infrastructure and gathering space. Across these conditions, the house relies on a limited set of materials and lighting techniques to sustain a careful balance between opacity, transparency, and domestic use.
About ONA – Oficina Nomada de Arquitectura
ONA – Oficina Nomada de Arquitectura is an architecture practice based in Mendoza, Argentina, directed by Arch. Nicolas Guerra and working with Arch. Juliana Catalani, Arch. Diana Barrera and Arch. Franco Sandes. In CCE House, the studio develops an introverted domestic refuge through containment, controlled openness, north-facing light, cross-ventilation, and a restrained material palette of concrete and wood.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Structural engineers: Civil Eng. Javier Edgardo Cicchinelli / ARCCUM
- Construction company: Arch. Florencia Vassallo / NESTIA
- Design: Arch. Nicolas Guerra
- Collaborators: Arch. Franco Sandes, Arch. Juliana Catalani, Arch. Diana Barrera
- Photography: Arch. Luis Abba
