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PROJECT, ARCHITECTURE 10.09.2025

Wooden Annex

#extension #mexico #wooden structure #valle de bravo #pedro&juana

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A staircase breaks through the roof, eager to extend upward. The house turns around and discovers a previously overlooked backside, opening up to new outlooks on the lush surrounding nature.

The Annex, designed by Pedro&Juana, is a vivid example of how architecture can evolve alongside the needs of its inhabitants. Located on the edge of a lake in Valle de Bravo, in the State of Mexico, the Annex is an extension of a home originally designed by José Iturbe.

Photos: Ramiro Chaves

Built on a slope that rises from the waterline up into the green mountain, stairways were both a necessity and a defining feature of the original house. Pedro&Juana took the gesture further, making the stairs the focal point of their design. Opening up the roof, they made way for a stair tunnel that continues the stairway of the existing house and connects it with the new wooden annex, carved into the mountainside. This connection expands the back of the house and provides a new secondary entrance to the annex and the service area below. A new stair was born!

Photos: Ramiro Chaves

This wide brick staircase leads down through the tunnel into a newly covered patio that serves as an overflow for the redesigned kitchen. Back at the top, the Annex consists of a bedroom, two bathrooms, and a versatile kitchen-slash-studio-slash-bedroom. A beautiful interior patio connects both rooms, creating an intimate outdoor space.

Detail Photos: Diego Manzano

With a design attuned to life’s evolving needs, the choice of wood as a sustainable building material felt natural and fitting. It also aligns with Pedro&Juana’s initiative, La Liga de la Madera, which promotes wood construction in Mexico as a circular and sustainable alternative to the predominant use of steel, concrete, brick, and mortar. To complement this sensible approach, every detail—every nook, landscape, tile, and most of the furniture from the kitchen to the two-room wooden addition—was designed by Pedro&Juana. The result is a creative redesign that weaves stairs and patios, textures, plants, wood, and brick into a fantastic addition that enhances the beauty of the original house and its surroundings.

Tags:

WOODEN ANNEX
Pedro&Juana
PHOTOGRAPHY
Ramiro Chaves, Diego Manzano (details)
CREDITS

Project Name: Wooden Annex
Location: Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico, Mexico
Office: Pedro&Juana
Project Team: Mecky Reuss, Ana Paula Ruiz Galindo, Mariel De Los Santos Kuri, Diego Manzano, Ana Lorena Montemayor Amaya, Ornella Zacarías
Constructor: TAF, Miguel Hierro, Javierl Limas
Area: 102 m2

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