Casa Casia: A Quiet Retreat in the Woods

Casa Casia is conceived as a place of retreat—an architectural exercise in stillness, contemplation, and belonging to the landscape. Located far from the pressures of urban development, the house inhabits a privileged natural setting where the surrounding vegetation and woodland envelop the architecture, providing shelter while allowing it to become an integral part of the site.

The design is defined by a clear volumetric simplicity and a linear composition that opens the interior toward multiple views of the immediate landscape. Its orientation was carefully considered to control solar exposure, improve thermal comfort, and create a balanced relationship between light, shade, and enclosure. The linear organization also allows for an efficient distribution of the program, minimizing circulation areas and prioritizing usable spaces with direct connections between indoors and outdoors.

The project draws from the region’s vernacular architecture through the use of pitched roofs, reinterpreted through a contemporary architectural language. A consistent structural module establishes the rhythm of the composition, organizing the different volumes while defining their proportions, spatial sequences, and material transitions.

From the earliest stages of the design process, bioclimatic principles and site-specific sustainable strategies played a fundamental role. Rainwater is collected and directed toward a retention pond, where it can be stored and reused. Solar panels are also incorporated as an essential component of the project’s environmental strategy, particularly given the property’s remote location and limited access to urban infrastructure.

The conceptual foundation of the house is inspired by the spatial logic of agricultural buildings, ranch structures, barns, and stables. Their modularity, proportions, and structural clarity provide an efficient yet serene scale for a countryside residence. The study of these typologies, developed in close dialogue with the owner, made it possible to establish a harmonious relationship between the architecture of the region, the structural system, and, above all, the views framed by the house.

The material palette remains restrained and understated. Dark tones allow the building to recede into the surrounding vegetation, while a warm timber screen introduces texture, depth, and contrast. Rather than relying on an abundance of finishes, the project uses a limited number of carefully selected elements to shape the spatial experience: structure, shadow, texture, and natural light.

The pitched roofs were equally important from a technical perspective. Different structural solutions were explored using locally sourced timber to create a thermally efficient roof system. Beyond its environmental performance, the roof gives the house a distinctive yet timeless architectural presence, reinforcing the rhythm and identity of the overall composition.

Inside, the project maintains the same restrained and coherent language. The interior architecture is deliberately quiet, allowing the proportions, materials, and atmosphere of each space to emerge. Natural light becomes an architectural material in its own right: carefully filtered, it creates reflections, depth, and visual focal points that enrich the everyday experience of inhabiting the house.

Casa Casia ultimately seeks to establish a thoughtful balance between architecture and landscape—a place where the building does not compete with its surroundings, but quietly frames, interprets, and becomes part of them.