Barrio 2 de Abril in San Juan de Uraba, a small municipallity on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, was founded as an informal settlement on the town's former airfield. Today it is an official quarter of the town, but still characterised by simple wooden houses on quite small plots. 

More and more of these old houses are being modernised. This generally means that they are being replaced by more solid houses.

The model for these concrete or brick houses came from Medellín, the capital of the department, which is located at an altitude of almost 1500 m and has a completely different climate than the coastal town, where average temperature lies at 28-30 °C and the relative humidity is very high. The houses are considered safe and have a good reputation, but they are not adapted to the local climatic conditions. The lack of air circulation, the large windows and the heat-retaining walls lead to problems such as mould and high room temperatures or dependence on air conditioning.
However, the original regional architecture contains many good techniques for climate-adapted building.

The goal of the team of local architects and creatives is to develop a wooden house typology in which old and new techniques merge to create an architecture that meets the demands of valuable modernisation, uses predominantly regional building materials, and is climate-adapted, cost-effective and easy to reproduce.

The aim of the project is to modernise the house of a family of six who own a beautiful but gradually decaying and, above all, far too small wooden house. 
The pilot project is intended to present an alternative design to the current concrete and brick houses.

The basic structure of the design is a timber platform in skeleton construction. Only materials that can withstand the salty, humid air are used (impregnated wood, galvanised steel)

• Impact for the residents
• Doubling of the available living space
• Preservation of the patio
• Flexible room layout
• Durability of the basic structure.

• Impact for the community
• Less soil sealing
• Densification
• Use of predominantly local building materials and labour

The platform can be erected over the existing house within a few days

•  No need to relocate for extended periods during construction.

The roof of the original house will be used for the new building, but broken up to avoid heat build-up. The old wall panels are reused for the façade.

• Lower construction costs

• Less construction waste
• Good deconstructability/recyclability

As with traditional houses, the upper parts of the walls and the large doors are latticed

• Well-ventilated living spaces adapted to the climate

• Preservation and further development of traditional building forms

A sanitary room will be built, the current house does not include one.


The construction will be artistically accompanied. An art exhibition shows the local history of timber house construction. The building techniques and constructive details will be presented and explained.

• Preservation of historical knowledge
• Enabeling replicabillity

Angely Angulo Meza was born and raised in San Juan de Urabá. She studied civil engineering in Madrid, Spain, and completed a BA in architecture at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, Germany. In her previous projects, she has mainly worked with sustainable construction and alternative building materials.

PROINTERSAN is an association that promotes social projects in the municipality of San Juan de Uraba. It supports small fincas and producers and advocates for sustainable and socially just development.

Julio Carlos Angulo, a visual artist in San Juan de Uraba, has been involved in promoting regional culture for many years. With his photos and paintings, he has documented the changes in the community.

"Plan B" is a collective of mostly young artists and technical architects who have organised themselves to work part-time for local cultural development. They give workshops for children and young people in the region and realise artistic interventions on site. For example, accompanying the celebration of San Juan's connection to the drinking water network. 
It also serves as a platform for the artists to exchange experiences and working techniques and to share computer and photographic equipment.

The project has inspired other young professionals in the area who bring experience and regional contacts in timber construction and surveying.

San Juan has an intact village community. People help each other out, especially with social projects. And in exchange for food and drinks, there are always enough helping hands for smaller construction projects.

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