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Casa Escalera

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Casa Escalera

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Casa Escalera

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Casa Escalera

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Casa Escalera

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Casa Escalera

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From the east, Casa Escalera presents as a fortress on a slope: A slim brick-and-concrete wall, anchored on one end by a three-storey tower, hides a vaulted walkway and parapet for (one imagines) keeping a watchful eye on the kingdom. Step beyond this first impression and it’s anything but: A thin extended roof plane on a steel truss system provides contrast as Escalera (from the Spanish for “ladder”) reveals itself to be a staggered, glass-walled oasis built into the hillside through stairs and stepped levels. To reduce the home’s footprint and ecological impact, VERTEBRAL stacked the bedrooms in the tower, each claiming its own view of the forest canopy.

Team: Elías Kalach and Teddy Nanes