1i Arquitectura’s House of the Tall Trees celebrates a spectacular forested site
This Mexican retreat, House of the Tall Trees, makes the most of a wooded site with a striking combination of glass, timber and concrete

The Mexican practice 1i Arquitectura has created House of the Tall Trees - a sylvan weekend retreat for a family of four, conceived as a bold design of concrete and glass that’s threaded through a secluded woodland plot with a towering double-height space as its centrepiece.
A balcony creates a covered terrace on the ground floor
House of the Tall Trees: a sylvan retreat in a 'jewel of a side'
The House of the Tall Trees sits on what the architects call a ‘jewel of a site’, with just the right amount of privacy, planting and rolling contours, as well as a stream that runs through the site, marking its edge. The architects describe the project as ‘an ode to tranquility in the forest,’ and the design does everything to maximise the sense of immersion in its surroundings.
The house is threaded into the surrounding forest
The principal structure is a slender concrete and glass volume set beneath a pitched roof and ranged across two floors. The heart of the house is the soaring living room, with kitchen, dining rea and a sunken conversation pit set beneath a roof that goes right to the top of the pitch to create a sense of unbounded space volume. Glazed walls match the verticality of the surrounding tree trunks, bringing the forest into the room.
The living area includes a sunken conversation pit
The central space is flanked by bedrooms, with two on each floor pushed to the edges of the plan. This gives each ensuite room a sense of extreme privacy, with an uninterrupted view of out to the woodland, as well as a private balcony. The architects have taken extreme care with the alignment and orientation of everything from windows to cabinetry, with meticulously composed timber beams left exposed on the underside of the roof.
A galleried landing leads to the upper floor bedrooms
On each side of the main pitched roof house is an ancillary building, a carport and utility area up the slope to the north, and a small wedge-shaped concrete study area on the terrace to the south. The public areas extend into the landscape, with a courtyard to the north that contains a pool and fountain (concrete, naturally), and a terrace opening into the forest to the south. The annexe structure also has its own private terrace with Jacuzzi, an ‘intimate space [that] offers an escape within an escape, a place of retreat and relaxation.
The studio space is a separate enclosed retreat
1i Arquitectura has offices in Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende. With a broad portfolio that encompasses everything from shopping centres to apartment buildings, the firm also recently completed a private urban house in Querétaro.
The main living space reaches up to the pitch of the roof and opens onto a south-facing terrace
A courtyard and water feature separates the house from the entrance structure
A view of one of the upper floor bedrooms with its terrace
The upper floor bedrooms have their own private terrace
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
All-In is the Paris-based label making full-force fashion for main character dressing
Part of our monthly Uprising series, Wallpaper* meets Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø of All-In, the LVMH Prize-nominated label which bases its collections on a riotous cast of characters – real and imagined
By Orla Brennan
-
Maserati joins forces with Giorgetti for a turbo-charged relationship
Announcing their marriage during Milan Design Week, the brands unveiled a collection, a car and a long term commitment
By Hugo Macdonald
-
Through an innovative new training program, Poltrona Frau aims to safeguard Italian craft
The heritage furniture manufacturer is training a new generation of leather artisans
By Cristina Kiran Piotti
-
Tour the wonderful homes of ‘Casa Mexicana’, an ode to residential architecture in Mexico
‘Casa Mexicana’ is a new book celebrating the country’s residential architecture, highlighting its influence across the world
By Ellie Stathaki
-
A barrel vault rooftop adds drama to these homes in Mexico City
Explore Mariano Azuela 194, a housing project by Bloqe Arquitetura, which celebrates Mexico City's Santa Maria la Ribera neighbourhood
By Ellie Stathaki
-
Explore a minimalist, non-religious ceremony space in the Baja California Desert
Spiritual Enclosure, a minimalist, non-religious ceremony space designed by Ruben Valdez in Mexico's Baja California Desert, offers flexibility and calm
By Ellie Stathaki
-
La Cuadra: Luis Barragán’s Mexico modernist icon enters a new chapter
La Cuadra San Cristóbal by Luis Barragán is reborn through a Fundación Fernando Romero initiative in Mexico City; we meet with the foundation's founder, architect and design curator Fernando Romero to discuss the plans
By Mimi Zeiger
-
Enjoy whale watching from this east coast villa in Mexico, a contemporary oceanside gem
East coast villa Casa Tupika in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico, is designed by architecture studios BLANCASMORAN and Rzero to be in harmony with its coastal and tropical context
By Tianna Williams
-
Mexico's long-lived football club Atlas FC unveils its new grounds
Sordo Madaleno designs a new home for Atlas FC; welcome to Academia Atlas, including six professional football fields, clubhouses, applied sport science facilities and administrative offices
By Tianna Williams
-
Discover Casa Roja, a red spatial exploration of a house in Mexico
Casa Roja, a red house in Mexico by architect Angel Garcia, is a spatial exploration of indoor and outdoor relationships with a deeply site-specific approach
By Ellie Stathaki
-
HW Studio’s Casa Emma transforms a humble terrace house into a realm of light and space
The living spaces in HW Studio’s Casa Emma, a new one-bedroom house in Morelia, Mexico, appear to have been carved from a solid structure
By Jonathan Bell