Cyclopean House

Built on top of an existing garage in a calm residenal neighborhood of Brookline, Boston, Cyclopean House is a single-family house designed by Ensamble Studio.

Using the vigor of the builder and the ingenuity of the engineer, Cyclopean House is built to start a journey from the place of its manufacture – Madrid – to the place where it can definitely lie – on the top of an existing garage, the ugly duckling of the area, located in a calm residential neighborhood of Brookline.

The one-story construction accommodates the parking, workshops and service spaces, following its basic structural logic. It is completed with the big room built on it assembling large prefabricated elements that rest after their long transatlantic voyage. This open-plan double-height living area includes the main domestic activities and enables the transformation of the residual building into a two-story residenal unit, technologically and spatially adapted to its time and the life of its users.

The new architecture concentrates structure and infrastructure on the perimeter: seven beams – of monumental scale – which specialize in one action each – cooking & bathing, storing, seating, dining, sleeping, working, projecting. The rest of the plan is then cleared to be shared by different events succeeding in time and functions have the option to expand into the central space as needed deciding its temporary layout.

The seven programmatic beams configure a thick enclosure that minimizes visual contact with the exterior on the three sides that adjoin neighbour houses and creates a big opening on the street side where the interior space can look at the trees in front and imagine itself in the midst of a park. Complemenng this one eye, as beams assemble together embracing space, they lose their mass in the points of contact where flanges touch and the web recesses to provide additional light and ventilation to specific funticons. Privacy and thermal insulation is thus guaranteed while maximizing light and view.

To avoid overloading the preexisting structure or having to dig new foundations, ultra-light construction systems give form to the new elements: solid cores made of foam 98% air reinforced by steel profiles and fire-proofed by a thin layer of cement & fibers. Dry joints and material lightness enable the different elements to be produced out of site – including finishes and fixtures – easily transported by ship and regular trucks and quickly placed together following a rhythmic sequence – carefully planned beforehand.