Colar revives adobe for Casa Estelí home in Chiapas, Mexico

Colar revives adobe for Casa Estelí home in Chiapas, Mexico. Architecture studio Colar has created a single-storey home in Chiapas, Mexico, by updating and extending a dilapidated adobe structure. The 162-square-metre dwelling, named Casa Estelí, pairs the revived adobe with two new brick volumes beneath an expansive, self-supporting timber roof.

Colar centered the project on preserving the existing adobe structure. This involved securing its 30-centimetre-thick walls with vertical reinforcements and a continuous timber beam to ensure seismic resilience. To further extend its lifespan, the timber roof is structurally independent to avoid additional loads and complete with overhangs to protect the walls from erosion.

"The main challenge was adapting an existing adobe structure, whose original construction and structural behaviour were not fully known, to new uses without compromising its stability, particularly in relation to seismic demands," the studio told Dezeen. The independent roof became a unifying element, connecting the old adobe with the new brick volumes.

Material Choices and Construction

The two new volumes were built using locally produced clay bricks with a wall thickness of 26 centimetres to match the existing structure. The masonry was left exposed on the exterior and interior. A pared-back material palette of exposed timber and clay flooring complements the brick.

"We chose materials that could establish continuity with the existing adobe while remaining clearly distinguishable from it," Colar explained. The studio noted that ochre tones and shared earth-based materiality create a connection. The rat-trap bond provides insulation and a wall thickness close to the original construction.

Layout and Interior Spaces

At the home's front, the renewed adobe structure opens from a spacious verandah to an open-plan living and dining area. Clerestory openings provide light. Situated off the living area is the smaller of the two new brick volumes. It contains a study, bathroom, and utility space.

An open-air corridor links to the larger extension at the home's opposite end. This larger volume accommodates two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The bathroom is finished in glossy green tiles.

Elsewhere in Mexico, Studio Font has perched a cliffside home on a series of inhabitable concrete columns and L-shaped roofs top the four volumes that make up a house in Los Cabos. For more on architectural projects, see our fixtures and stats pages.

The photography is by Ariadna Polo.