The first thing that stands out about Casa Mérida is its unashamed brutalism, defined by raw and omnipresent concrete, all hard edges and rough surfaces under the strong Mexican sun. The second is that most of the building seems to be open to the outdoors, with few fully enclosed spaces. The project’s defining feature, though, is that it is 80m long but just 8m wide.

While this odd stretch would be considered unusual in most places, in Mérida, capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, it’s fairly common, explains the house’s architect, French-born, Mexico City-based Ludwig Godefroy: ‘This type of lot is everywhere in the historic centre of Mérida and it has to do with inheritance, when people started to slice bi er plots into smaller ones, to distribute to different siblings.’ And while a big part of the city comprises grand colonial architecture, some urban chunks include more humble styles, such as old workers’ cottages. It was one such building that Godefroy came across, when he visited Mérida with his client, a high-flying professional from Mexico City. His family of three was in search of the perfect spot for a retreat, to hide away and use as a base to kite-surf nearby.

The strange plot was a quirk Godefroy embraced immediately. ‘The house’s long and narrow site provided a new kind of challenge for me,’ he says. ‘It’s nothing like I’ve done before and by pushing yourself, something new and amazing can come up.’

And come up it did, as the wildly di erent design emerged, transforming the existing structure into a 21st-century ascetic refuge. Taking the site as the main inspiration, Godefroy started to explore the possibilities; he also looked to the local culture and vernacular as well as personal in uences, constantly adjusting areas until the whole project felt just right, both answering the client’s needs and tting in the urban context.

Exposed concrete formwork gives texture to the walls and shower enclosure of one of the bedrooms

The site’s history was important for Godefroy: ‘I wanted to keep elements of the old house as testimony to what was there before, so I decided to leave it as a sort of ruin. From the street you cannot really see the new house, it’s like a secret garden house and the old home essentially becomes the entrance to the new design,’ he says. So while the interior is entirely new, the front façade and old building’s bones were kept, revealing nothing about what goes on behind the enigmatic street-facing stone wall.

Once past the front door and a walled entrance hall with a garage next to it, everything changes. ‘This is not a house with a garden. It is a garden with a house,’ explains the architect. Making the most of the region’s warm weather and taking his cues from the outdoor lifestyle of the locals, Godefroy composed a journey through a sequence of permeable spaces along the plot’s long axis, dotted with four courtyards. This helps negotiate the awkward length, which otherwise could have meant a series of dark rooms.

Meanwhile, an open-air strip running the entire length of the house acts as a backbone for the design. ‘The long corridor on the side of the plot helps with ventilation but also acts as the main circulation space,’ he continues. ‘When moving through the house you always come back there.’ The various courtyards alternate with living areas and bedrooms, one of which can be used as a studio, with its own kitchenette and bathroom. Another is slotted on an upper level, under a concrete, pyramid-esque roof that nods to Mayan culture – a key part of Mérida’s heritage.