Chata La Baita

Conguillio National Park is located 700 km south of Santiago de Chile and 110 km from the city of Temuco towards the mountains. At the foot of the Llaima volcano, inside the park, is "La Baita," the meeting place for guests of ecotourism "La Baita." Due to its distance from Santiago, the first task was to find a construction system whose feasibility would not be complicated for local workers and could be easily monitored from a distance. In the Melipeuco warehouse, about 20 km away, unprocessed cut boards of coihue wood 3.6 m long were available. From them, 2"x 10" room walls were created, and the old structure received a new facade. These boards were layered vertically with insulation, creating a sandwich effect. The new construction program, in addition to expanding the restaurant and building six rooms with en-suite bathrooms, provides a sauna, massages, and a multifunctional space. The new restaurant is complemented by a gallery that allows various activities to take place on the eastern side of the building. Since all rooms should have the same view, they are designed in an overlapping manner in accordance with the site's topography. An outdoor corridor connecting the individual rooms follows the slope of the land and opens into an inner garden. Under the terrace, there is a multifunctional space that has ultimately been transformed into a natural amphitheater.