(August 2010) „Cradled between the peaks of the Sierra Madre Oriental, Casa Torres seeks to contact its environment“, according to the project’s planers GLR Arquitectos of Monterrey, Mexico.
The cradle catches the visitor’s eye from the street below, whose view then pans out to rest on the picture of a mighty oak sheltering the bungalow beneath. The white wall behind with its square plates, light wood elements and dark brown siding, makes for an interesting backdrop. The glass front of the room with its fireplace lends the illusion of a second entrance.
The white Santo Tomas marble, which is first implemented at the entrance, leads visitors through the house. It covers floors and lifts itself to higher levels in two instances: in the living room it frames the mid-high fireplace and in the bathroom it even reaches to the ceiling where a small waterfall runs down its face. The waterfall provides natural cooling and humidity – summers in the Sierra Madre can be sweltering.
Part of the inside and outside walls are made of dark basalt. The colour of the stone, its natural porousness and the obvious ridges build a bridge to the wood of the surrounding trees.
The Casa Torres has a surface of 550 m². The marble was provided by Marmol y Arte Company of Monterrey, a specialist in interior design.
Photos: Jorge Taboada
