Vieques House
Vieques, Puerto Rico

Schematic Design 2011

Design Team
Brian Messana, Toby O’Rorke, Viktor Nassli, Francesca Martintoni, Patricia Dehesa

There’s an element of the primitive in this spartan refuge located on Vieques, a remote island off the coast of Puerto Rico, where wild horses roam the countryside and the land itself feels far removed from the encroachment of the modern world. Our client was looking for a place to disconnect from his professional life and the chaotic pace of the city. We devised a no-fuss encampment that hugs its hillside site and opens onto dazzling views of the Caribbean Sea. Habitable only in warm, mild weather, the house is designed as a modular composition of concrete planes and volumes, inspired by the concrete bunkers of an abandoned U.S. military base on Vieques, with no glass whatsoever. The individual volumes can be opened and closed quickly and easily via folding walls of ipe wood panels. These hard-wearing rooms distill the concept of domesticity to its most primal form, offering a visceral connection between interior space and the land that surrounds it.

The upper volume accommodates the primary bedroom and an adjacent outdoor tub and shower, as well as an open living area that cantilevers above the narrow lap pool that connects the main house to a small guest casita. This raised structure affords the clearest views of the Caribbean. Below the living container, an outdoor kitchen can be secured by another set of wooden shutters. A walled garden separates the main house and the guest pavilion. Although largely indestructible, the concrete material will eventually accrue patina and age in response to the forces of wind, sun, air, and rain. This elemental sanctuary represents our vision of modern castle—a fortified redoubt from the hurly-burly of modern society, complete with a reinterpreted moat.

Renderings by Benedek Czigány

Press

2014

Smith-Eppsteiner, Julia. “Learning to Enjoy the Walls.” No. 3 (September 2014).

GA Houses 136: Project 2014 (Tokyo: ADA Edita Tokyo, 2014).

Awards

2023

Finalist in the category: Unbuilt - Private House. Architizer A+Awards

2022

Excellence Award, Society of American Registered Architects, National Design Awards