The project sites in the monumental district of Barranco, Lima, on a compact 198 m² lot. Conceived as a photographer’s workshop-studio, its spatial logic also anticipates effortless conversion into an exhibition venue, allowing the architecture to be flexible between the private creative practice and a temporary display of an open studio.
Entry is framed by a front courtyard with cantilevered planters. From there, through a first system of wooden sliding doors, the visitor is led into a generous central workspace—the operational and sensory heart of the project. A second system of large sliding doors, concealed in pocket walls, dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior, weaving the entrance court, the main workspace, and the rear courtyard into a continuous sequence. Around this core, the program unfolds with restraint: a kitchenette and two flexible rooms that may serve as studios or as temporary residences for visiting artists. Only the bathrooms and the darkroom remain fully enclosed, safeguarding privacy and the technical needs of analog photographic practice.
A staircase rises from the main workspace to an upper gallery and a private study with an en-suite bathroom. From this elevated vantage, the composition reconfigures itself, establishing a horizontal dialogue with the vegetation on the cantilevered planters.
The tectonic strategy is explicit and integral: perimeter walls of reinforced concrete block form a resolute enclosure, while a system of eight huayruro wooden trusses—each 6.7 meters in span—not only supports the folded roof but also braces those concrete walls, creating a coherent structural armature. The roofline gradually descends from the second floor toward the rear courtyard, generating a dynamic section. Along its trajectory, the trusses also configure four skylights that puncture the roof, flooding the interiors with overhead light and encouraging cross ventilation through clerestory windows operated by pulleys. These elements evoke the skylights, lanterns, and ceiling lights of the heritage houses in Barranco, which have historically addressed natural lighting and ventilation in the area.
Huayruro wood—a very resistant tropical species—defines structure, carpentry, partitions, gates, furniture, and the stair, lending tactile warmth and durability. Interior concrete-block faces are smooth; in the courtyards, they assume a textured relief suited to concealed lighting or future climbing vegetation. Handcrafted yellow terrazzo tiles run continuously to the rear courtyard, where they terminate at a concrete-slat planter housing a ceibo tree, surrounded by cacti and succulents—species calibrated to Lima’s arid coastal climate and the project’s character.
