A shift in model.
The family that owns the land is currently focused on transitioning from an extractive model toward one of ecological conservation. Their vision involves adventure tourism, taking advantage of the towering volcanic rock walls for climbing. They’ve introduced camping areas, and now, lodgings.

Lodgings that carry the memory of a quarry.
All obsolete items left behind by the quarry have been repurposed and revalued, forming a dialogue between time and memory that defines this unique context. The character of the lodgings is inseparable from that of the quarry itself.

In this process of spatial remediation, materials come from three sources:
(1) The natural context – The massive stones placed on site are remnants and absences of what was once extracted over the years; they now serve as structural supports. Along the 50-meter-high, 400-meter-wide cliff wall, flat stones have been deposited — these were used for the sinks. Gravel and sand were reused in walkways and outdoor spaces.

(2) Recycled materials – Vibrating screens and old oil pipeline tubes now serve as structural elements. Metal parts, carved stones, rods, and timbers (such as staves and beams) were salvaged from old constructions in Baños. A thick roll of steel cable, a scoop, small digger teeth, and other machinery spare parts were also reused. These recycled elements embrace the new visitors, creating spaces with the spirit and soul of the quarry while harmonizing with the native vegetation.

(3) The volcano – New pine and colorado wood provide the spatial quality and comfort needed for the interior of the lodgings and the shared dining area. The structures are built using two large trusses prefabricated on the ground — simple to make and easy to lift. The overall experience is that of an observatory, one that looks directly out at the Tungurahua Volcano, enhancing its majesty and grounding the visitor deeply in the spirit of the place.

Text provided by the architects.

The objective is to propose a model of floating housing for Mr. Carlos, Mrs. Teresa, and their youngest son. A family that has been living on the river for over 30 years and uses the immediate ecosystem as their main resource.

Carlos repairs wooden boats, while Teresa prepares traditional food, which is sold to local communities. The housing they lived in presented a critical condition in its structure and provision of basic services, preventing them from carrying out their livelihood activities in a dignified and sustainable manner.

Processes and techniques. A survey is conducted of their current living spaces and an inventory is made of the existing furniture and their uses. Through interviews with Carlos and Teresa, the problems, needs, and possible solutions are further explored, with the aim of utilizing them.

La Balsanera proposes extending 2m on each side of the current platform (6mx7m) to enhance the productive environments of the inhabitants. The structure consists of modular frames every 2m built with local wood, forming a gable roof, creating storage spaces and sufficient height for the enhancement of natural ventilation and lighting through its wooden lattice boundaries.

The existing location of private and social spaces such as the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms is preserved in the center, while two strips are added to the ends; one for service and two for productive purposes, where the boat workshop, dry toilet, laundry, toilet, and shower are located. The platform ends towards the river with a productive terrace where the possibility of extending the traditional food service, social gathering, and anchoring of tourist boats is generated.

Management and approach. The SAT (Sharjah Architectural Triennial) calls on architecture teams to develop an exhibition that values the importance of scarcity, reuse of resources, and the appreciation of ancestral techniques based on nature in the Global South, including the Natura Futura studio, which in collaboration with Juan Carlos Bamba decides to use the resources commonly used in ephemeral constructions and later discarded to design and build the first sustainable floating house in Babahoyo, Ecuador with the aim of recovering the tradition of inhabiting the river.

La Balsanera explores possible floating solutions that recover local artisanal techniques while enhancing the active and productive participation of occupants in vulnerable communities, where it is urgent to strengthen their resilience and sustainability to initiate the generation of public policies that allow, for the first time, traditional habitat on the river.

Text provided by the architects.

A strategic location on the lot is chosen, which allows taking advantage of visuals and generating a harmonious relationship between the height of the house and the surrounding elevations. In addition, different scales of the inside-outside relationship are achieved with the location, which will allow the program to be distributed according to the spatial needs established for each space with the outside.

It was decided to work with laminated pine wood, seeking to promote the use of this emerging construction system in Ecuador. Madebú -the supplier of the material- handled three optimal dimensions (in relation to waste) in terms of the width of the piece (11, 3.5 and 7.5 centimeters); In relation to the height, we could work with multiples of 3 centimeters and for the length, the limit was given by the transport and handling of the pieces. We decided to use the 3 width dimensions available (for the main structure, secondary structure and accessories respectively) always with a height of 30 centimeters and a maximum length of 9.5 meters (because the largest truck that could access the lot had the capacity to load a maximum of one piece of that length). Another condition for the size of the pieces was the weight, due to the complicated accessibility to the site, the assembly would be manual, for this the pieces had to be able to be transported by a team of 6 people, the weight of the longest piece is 145 kilograms approximately.

The maximum length also defined the height of the house, the columns had to be a continuous piece, so the maximum height is equal to the maximum length; condition that does not limit the beams because these elements could be composite.

At the programmatic level, a house that can change depending on its use was sought, a house that can adequately serve the family but that, in turn, can accommodate many more users and diverse activities.

Taking advantage of the particular climate of Mindo, it is established that the comfort conditions for the family are not necessarily the same as for the visitors, they will occupy the house for long periods of time, so capsules that can be isolated from the context and maintain standards are considered. of high comfort, but for visits, understanding them as sporadic, they can occupy the space in a more informal way. It is thought of a house that can accommodate many visitors but that does not have guest rooms, working with many intermediate spaces, attached to the capsules for family use, that can expand their occupancy capacity and be enabled according to need.

These intermediate spaces also serve as circulation, take advantage of privileged views and allow infinite ways of occupying the house. In addition, they allow the user to model the scale of each capsule according to their needs, any room in the house can grow and use these intermediate spaces when required.

Text provided by the architect.