Located on the grounds of a larger holiday home in the seaside community of Quintay on the Chilean coast, this pavilion was designed as a dedicated guesthouse by Santiago based architecture studio Tironi Bartlau. 

A clean, minimalist box volume of some 74 sq m, the project is informed in its formal development and dimensions by the neighbouring main house as well as the trees and topography of the site. ‘We set out not to simply build a new building in the vacant space, but to renovate the entire site, creating a series of gardens in between the two houses,’ explain Tironi and Bartlau.

The two storey building has a relatively small footprint and extends upwards, with the main living spaces placed on the top floor, and more private and auxiliary areas contained below. This way, the communal and entertainment areas on the piano nobile are afforded long views towards the surrounding nature and the ocean beyond. Tall ceilings here enhance the overall sense of space, while wood panelling creates warmth and adds to the texture palette inside.

Fully glazed walls with invisible corners help the gaze wander, say the architects, ‘so that our eyes observe the exterior view of being surrounded by trees, the distant horizon of the sea and perhaps make us doubt that we are inside.’

The guesthouse’s visible metallic frame defines its aesthetic. ‘The exposed skeleton-like structure, based on a continuous 10×20 cm section of steel beams and columns, is placed outside the enclosure layer, thus reinforcing the idea of ‘incompleteness’ and creating an ambiguity for the borderline between inside and outside,’ explains the design team. 

Headed by Tomas Tironi and Christian Bartlau, the young studio was established in Chile’s capital less than a decade ago as the joint operation of the dynamic architects, who have also collaborated with some of the country’s most established offices, like Cecilia Puga and Max Nunez, and also teach. Their combined portfolio includes a wealth of residential commissions, from single family houses to larger residential work and interiors. §