Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz raises Santiago house above a patio and beech tree
An exposed steel frame supports the upper storey of this house in Santiago, Chile, which has a mature copper beech tree rising from a courtyard at its centre (+ slideshow).
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_8.jpg)
Located in Santiago's Las Condes district, House LG was designed by local architect Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz to replace an existing property, providing a bespoke home for a family.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_7.jpg)
Errázuriz wanted to free up as much of the ground floor area as possible and create a stronger relationship between the house and the garden.
He therefore designed the lower level as a platform formed from large I-beams, which supports raised living spaces and also frames the central courtyard.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_3.jpg)
"This modification began with thinking of the existing piece as a plinth for a new piece that allows us to increase public areas, create intermediate space and [enhance] the relation between inside and outside," explained the architect.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_16.jpg)
The ground floor has an L-shaped plan with one side extending back towards the garden, leaving the other side open. This creates room for the courtyard containing the copper beech tree, as well as a terrace sheltered beneath a section of the first floor.
Behind a solid black wall facing the street, a double-height living and dining area to the right of the entrance faces out through large windows towards the sheltered central garden.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_4.jpg)
V-shaped supports integrated into the glazing are repeated elsewhere on this level, where they mark the edges of the built area and frame views of the external spaces.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_6.jpg)
"The outcome is an architectural body that seeks to dissolve its relation with its immediate context but create a spatially and controlled closure," Errázuriz added.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_14.jpg)
Materials were chosen to accentuate the separation between the communal areas on the ground floor and the more private rooms above.
The ground-floor plinth features black-painted masonry and steel, while the upper storey is clad in white wooden boards.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_13.jpg)
The terrace beneath the bedroom wing contains a stepped seating pit with a tiled floor that matches the level of the adjacent lawn.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_12.jpg)
The entrance is set back from the front facade and opens onto a corridor that extends the full length of the property. A sliding glazed door at the far end provides a view directly onto the garden.
This corridor leads past the kitchen and a bedroom on its left side towards a staircase at the rear that ascends to the private level.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_1.jpg)
Three bedrooms occupy the volume that overlooks the garden, which is connected to a lounge area and studio at the front of the house by an open-air terrace.
The terrace looks down onto the patio, while the studio area is also open on the same side so it overlooks the living room below.
![House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta_dezeen_936_9.jpg)
Other homes designed around trees include an Australian house that slots into spaces between three indigenous trees and an extension in London that curves around the trunk of a tree in the house's garden.
Photography is by Juan Durán Sierralta.
Project credits:
Architects: Brugnoli Asociados Arquitectos
Architects in charge: Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz
Collaborators: Macarena Cortés Darrigrande and José Acosta Muñoz
Structural Engineer: Ulises Salazaar
Builders: Gregorio Brugnoli – Domingo Apablaza
![Exploded axonometric of House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta-exploded-axonometric_dezeen_6.gif)
![Ground floor plan of House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta-ground-floor-plan_dezeen_1-1.gif)
![First floor plan of House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta-first-floor-plan_dezeen_2-1.gif)
![Cross sections A and B of House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta-sections-a-b_dezeen_3-1.gif)
![Cross sections C and D of House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta-sections-c-d_dezeen_4-1.gif)
![Long sections of House LG by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/house-lg-brugnoli-asociados-arquitectos-architecture-santiago-chile-juan-duran-sierralta-long-sections_dezeen_5-1.gif)