4-unit apartment building in a designated historic district
location: lima, peru
client: private
design team: s. barclay – j.p. Crousse – j. puig
project team: p. diaz, f. tuesta
built surface: 767 m2
completion: 2021
photographer: c. palma
prizes: nominated project -Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize 2024
publications: L’oasi come casa: cinque case colletive di Barclay&Crousse a Lima, lettera ventidue (2024)
The project leverages the complexity and contradictions of the town’s preservation guidelines —such as a 12-meter height limit, street alignment, vertical fenestrations, and a 30% non-built area requirement on a small plot-. A new building type is proposed based on these challenges. The new type preserves the space of the traditional street. Still, it generates a transversal transparency, a porosity of the urban space that goes beyond creating a buffer between public and private.
The commission comes from the aspirations of four friends to live together in the historic center. As a premise, the project should be able to evolve over time (in fact, it began as a place of collective transdisciplinary creation).
The street facade appears incomplete from the street. Inside, each apartment has a large terrace that crosses the in-between space. Thus, the terraces are also the intermediate spaces where the owners meet and socialize. On the ground floor, the free space is used for parking vehicles, a cost-saving measure that eliminates the need for a basement and ensures efficient use of resources.
