Restoration of a late-19th-century “chorizo” house in San Telmo, Buenos Aires, with 120 m² of new construction added. The main work was built between 2006 and 2008 and the roof terrace was completed in a second stage, in 2019.
The work was the restoration of a typical late-19th-century house of the kind known in Buenos Aires as a “chorizo” house. It was bought in ruinous condition, after being taken over and vandalized during the 1980s and 1990s. It was still standing thanks to the quality of its original construction: the walls and floors were the only elements worth saving.
The design premise was to highlight the contrast between “old” and “contemporary” through the different materials. What existed was restored and new construction was added: on the upper floor, an independent unit that is still tied into the life of the house through a long balcony.
As the architect of the work, what I want to show here is the order in which an old house gets resolved: what is demolished and what is kept, how the new work is housed, and how services are coordinated in a building that was never designed for them.
The photos are ordered by the date recorded inside each image, not by file name. The milestones overlap in time because several trades worked at once. Each one opens a gallery with all of its photos.
The house arrived in ruins, taken over and vandalized during the 1980s and 1990s. Fallen ceilings, peeling plaster and corroded timber beams in plain sight. The walls and floors were the only elements worth saving.
Photos with no recorded date, placed by what they show.
The original timber beams were corroded and a structural risk. They were demolished together with the remains of the existing plaster, which was in ruinous condition, after surveying the original moldings so they could be recreated.
Photos with no recorded date, placed by what they show.
The roofs were replaced with concrete slabs. The photos show the sloped concrete screeds, the concrete stair to the roof terrace and the formwork of the new construction.
Nine of these photos have no recorded date; they are placed by what they show.
The space between the roof and the ceilings was used to run the air-conditioning ductwork throughout the house. The plaster ceilings were then rebuilt with period techniques.
Two of these photos have no recorded date.
A steel structure and glazed roof over the stair space, and the aluminum-framed volume of the new upper-floor unit. This is where the contrast between old and new is strongest.
Door and window frames were restored, and 8 sets of double-leaf doors were reproduced from the only original one that survived. The workshop photos show the frames and the molded panels; the restored street door appears in January 2008. All the shutters were replaced using the old folding technique.
The floors and baseboards were restored, and the interior stair was finished in timber.
The kitchen and bathrooms, originally disconnected from the house, were brought into the main floor. The kitchen connects to the dining room and to the Fire Courtyard (Patio de los Fuegos), with a grill and a clay oven. Black cabinets with aluminum trim and a timber breakfast bar.
Three photos of the fireplace have no recorded date and go at the end of the series.
Planned as part of the work, the roof terrace was delayed and only built in a second stage, in 2019: a steel structure and PVC-look deck over about 60 m² of terrace.
Bedrooms with restored floors and openings, the integrated kitchen, bathrooms with an exposed brick wall, the glazed roof, the Fire Courtyard and the roof terrace. These photos are from 2019.
One photo has no recorded date and goes at the end.
Today the house works as a short-term rental, and guests leave their reviews on the accommodation website. Below are excerpts from some of those reviews, written by people who stayed there. I chose the ones that speak about the house itself; most of the reviews are about the location and the hosts, and I left those out. They are the opinions of guests about a place they used, not an assessment of the design work.
The house is truly beautiful, you don’t expect the house to look the way it does from the outside, I love the design of this place. It is very spacious and perfect for big families.
Maxi, North Carolina, USA
The house is beautiful and full of lovely details in every space, and has every comfort. The bedrooms and bathrooms are very comfortable and allow for privacy, while at the same time there are large common spaces to share.
Maria Florencia, Argentina · translated from Spanish
…Updated bathrooms and kitchen… Beautifully decorated. An inside Asado and Pizza Oven! Terrace overlooking San Telmo.
Jennifer, Florida, USA
The house is huge, very comfortable and well equipped… even better than it looked in the photos.
Ayelen, Argentina · translated from Spanish
Excerpts from guest reviews on a short-term accommodation website, shown with the guest’s first name and place of origin. Translations are mine.
I rebuilt the house in Revit as a retrospective model: the existing building, the demolition and the new work organized by phases in a single model. The house was designed and built before this model existed, and the model was not used to build it. I include it because it shows, on a real project I know in detail, how a renovation is organized in BIM.
How I approach existing buildings is described in BIM for Renovation and Existing Conditions / Scan-to-BIM.
Model axonometrics and services diagrams (sheets labeled in Spanish).
My restoration experience is as the architect on built projects, not as a heritage-conservation specialist. Photos are from the project archive; those of the finished work are from 2019.
On the choice to keep and restore rather than demolish, see sustainable architecture and reuse.
Tell me about your project and I will send a time and price range, typically within one business day. No obligation, no long-term contract.