In the heart of Buenos Aires' Barracas neighborhood, an unassuming gray wall conceals one of the city's most innovative residential projects. Casa Elena, a 775-square-foot home designed by architecture firm La Base in collaboration with modular construction company Place, represents a groundbreaking fusion of traditional and prefabricated building methods that offers its owner an unexpected sanctuary amid the urban density.
The project emerged from a personal vision by Leandro Seoane, who leads Place and lives in an adjacent building. Seeking to create a comfortable home for his mother Elena, Seoane partnered with La Base founders Teresa Sarmiento and Nicolás Tovo to develop a residence that would replace a modest 1940s dwelling while maximizing both efficiency and quality of life.
The collaboration between La Base and Place began during the pandemic as the architects searched for faster and more efficient construction methods. "We started to think about how we could combine our strengths—our architectural expertise with their modular construction experience—to make architectural products using the kind of architecture we'd already been doing for twenty years," explains Sarmiento. The materials and design language La Base typically employs, including metal, wood, and slender structural elements, proved naturally compatible with modular construction techniques.
Elena's specific requirements shaped the project's unique approach. Wanting a single-level home that would suit her lifestyle and budget, she provided the architects with a challenge: create a high-quality residence while controlling costs through innovative construction methods. The solution was a hybrid approach that combines half modular construction with half traditional building techniques, seamlessly integrated to appear as a unified whole.
The home's design prioritizes the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces while maintaining privacy in the dense urban environment—a signature element of La Base's architectural philosophy. The residence incorporates four distinct outdoor areas: an entry courtyard, a rear patio, an interior courtyard within the modular section, and a rooftop terrace accessible via iron stairs from the entry.
Sarmiento describes the experience of entering the house as "theatrical." From the street, the gray wall reveals nothing of the vibrant sanctuary within. Passing through this barrier, visitors discover an entry patio filled with lush green ferns, where iron stairs lead up to a paved terrace and a solid lapacho wood door opens into the traditionally constructed portion of the home.
The traditionally built section houses an open-plan living and dining area that connects seamlessly with the rear patio through sliding glass doors framed in black aluminum. This space, naturally illuminated by glass on three sides, features custom shelving designed by La Base and flows effortlessly into the modular portion of the home.
The prefabricated module, measuring approximately 32 by 130 feet, was craned into position and contains the home's kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. This section also encloses an additional interior patio, further expanding the home's connection to outdoor space. According to Sarmiento, concentrating the most complex construction aspects within the modular unit allowed for better cost control and quality management.
"With modular construction, everything must be fully defined before production begins, almost like designing a car," Sarmiento explains. "Combining modular and traditional construction helped us control costs." While modular construction can be slightly more expensive than traditional methods due to logistics, finishes, and quality requirements, building part of the home on-site helped offset expenses and made the project more economical overall.
Sustainability played a crucial role in the project through the thoughtful reuse of materials from the original property. Marble from the old fireplace was repurposed as a serene bathroom countertop, while slender wooden floorboards were stripped down and recycled as wooden cladding for the kitchen unit, which is topped with stainless steel.
Elena, who has lived in the home for two years, expresses complete satisfaction with the results. "My home is my favorite place because it's warm, comfortable, and functional," she says. "I love the amount of natural light that floods every corner, but what makes it truly special is the greenery in the outdoor spaces which connects me with nature." She maintains a garden on the terrace and has converted one of the bedrooms into a study.
The construction timeline demonstrated the efficiency of the hybrid approach. Work began in March 2023, and Elena moved in by July of the same year. "It would have been earlier," she laughs, "but there was a delay with the gas installation, and it being winter, I thought it best to wait."
For La Base, Casa Elena represents a significant achievement in their evolving practice. Today, approximately 80 to 90 percent of their projects utilize modular construction, building on the success of previous projects including an entirely modular home in Bariloche that was previously featured in Dwell magazine.
"For us, Casa Elena is a success story," enthuses Sarmiento. "A true fusion of two very different worlds that ultimately enhance one another. That was our original challenge: to ensure that what prevails is not the construction method, but the architecture itself—the space, the light, the landscape, and the experience of living within it." The project stands as a compelling example of how innovative construction methods can serve architectural vision while creating genuinely livable spaces in dense urban environments.
