The Daxi House is a project requested by a young couple from Hong Kong with roots in Taiwan. Initially it has the intention to be a holiday house for them and their family, but the idea is that in the future it would become their permanent residence. The acquired plot is located in Daxi, a small fisherman’s village on the mountain side, with a 6m height difference.

The project begins with two main strategies agreed with the client: 1. Utilization of concrete as the main construction material: due to the climate conditions of the area (typhoons, usual heavy rains...) we looked for a material with low maintenance and good behavior in close to  sea areas.  2. A clear climatological strategy: a concrete lattice around the south façade as a solar protection, that would configure the aesthetics of the building and would boost the internal room arrangement creating semi-exterior circulations and spaces.

To generate a wide garden, the house is located in the northern part of the plot, adjusting itself to the minimum local regulation offset of 1.5m. Because of this and due to the possibility of having a future neighbor less than 3m away from the north façade; all the internal circulations of the house happen in the north façade, to avoid a future block of the views from any room.

The house is divided in 5 floors, adapting itself to the terrain and acquiring views from the sea and the famous Turtle Island 龜山, located just in front of it. The principal entrance is located in the second floor, being able to reach this point coming up the stairs from the garden or going down from the outside parking space in the third floor.

As for the façade finish, a very commonly use material in the area is chosen, the ming shi zi, a mix of mortar and small pebbles of different chromatic tones applied straight in to the concrete. This material not only gives the building a monolithically aspect, but is a good protection against the humidity and is a system with a long tradition in the area.