Sordo Madaleno divides Valle de Bravo house across six concrete pavilions
A row of red concrete pavilions forms Rancho del Bosque, a vacation residence designed by architecture studio Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos amidst a pine forest in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
Rancho del Bosque, or "forest ranch", comprises six structures arranged in a neat row along a hillside, each with a distinct function.
Mexico City-based Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos designed the 735-square-metre house for a couple based in Mexico City, approximately two hours' drive away, as a getaway for themselves, their children and their grandchildren.
The fragmented layout encourages residents to see the surrounding landscape as an extension of their living space.
"The main intention of the project was to create a tension between nature and architecture, allowing this dynamic to shape the spatial experience for the inhabitants," said architect and partner Fernando Sordo Madaleno, who has been a member of the firm founded by his grandfather since 2012.
"The house is therefore divided into module-like pavilions, making the experience about being immersed in the surrounding nature rather than simply being in a house within nature," he stated.
The largest block is an extruded semi-cylinder, providing living and dining spaces where the family comes together.
To the south are four smaller blocks in the same shape, with one housing cosy lounge areas and the other three containing two floors of bedrooms. A cuboidal sixth block is located at the northern end, offering a kitchen and other service spaces.
The arrangement responds to the geography of the site. The curved walls create seclusion on the hillside side of the site, while the west-facing facades open up to the valley landscape view.
"Rather than a single architectural gesture, we envisioned a series of volumes that rest naturally along the site's gradient, curating a continuous, close experience of the landscape," Sordo Madaleno told Dezeen.
"Some spaces are nestled against the mountainside; others open outward toward long, expansive views, with each designed to capture a distinct relationship to light, vegetation, and topography," he said.
The design team chose to build the structures in concrete with a subtle red pigment, allowing the architecture to echo the warm tones of the iron-rich Valle de Bravo soil.
Wood and stone are the other dominant materials, with timber used for flooring and joinery, white limestone chosen for internal walls framing the living room, and rugged quarry stones used to pave pathways and balconies.
Roof overhangs provide shade to outside spaces, which also include a generous pool terrace.
"Terraces, plateaus and covered walkways trace the terrain, creating changing rhythms of shadow and movement," added Sordo Madaleno.
"Balconies align with the height of the treetops, allowing residents to move through the canopy as they look out over the valley."
Rancho del Bosque sits within the 370-hectare Valle San Nicolás development site, for which Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos has designed the masterplan.
Anchoring the development is the doughnut-shaped Valle San Nicolás Clubhouse, completed in 2021 and named Hospitality Building of the Year at Dezeen Awards in 2022.
With this new project, the firm hopes to define a model for how new buildings can successfully integrate with the valley setting.
"The architecture doesn't disappear, but it rests gently on its site, nestled in rather than overt and monolithic," concluded Sordo Madaleno. "Like the valley itself, it balances human intent and natural continuity."
Other recently completed residences in this area include the Dezeen Award-winning House 720 Degrees by Fernanda Canales Architecture and the monolithic Copas by PPAA.
The photography is by Edmund Sumner unless otherwise indicated. Main image is by Óscar Caballero.
Project credits:
Architecture: Sordo Madaleno
Partners: Javier Sordo Madaleno Bringas, Javier Sordo Madaleno de Haro, Fernando Sordo Madaleno
Architecture director: Boris Pena, Alba Díaz
Design team: José Mendoza, Jerónimo Andrade, Karla Flores
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