Vaulted brick roof spans Intermediate House in Paraguay by Equipo de Arquitectura

Paraguay studio Equipo de Arquitectura has completed a residence with vaulted brick ceilings on a narrow lot in Asunción, which opens to a courtyard with a mango tree.

The Intermediate House comprises two blocks either side of the central, open-air courtyard.

The architects referred to the entrance block as the "quincho", which loosely translates to "gazebo", while the second block at the back on the site contains the living room, kitchen, and bedroom.

Intermediate House sits on a narrow lot in Asunción, Paraguay

"The goal was to create a fluid and flexible space with natural sunlight, cross ventilation and a constant contact with nature," said Equipo de Arquitectura, which is based in the city.

The walls and ceiling throughout the building are made of manually pressed, uncooked dirt bricks. The same bricks are arranged with gaps in-between on the street-facing facade.

The entrance is into the open-air "quincho" block

Four vaults span the roof, resting on black steel I-beams. The voids between the structural supports and the arches are filled with glass.

"Using local materials such as earth and wood we created a space that is open and closed at the same time," said the studio. "That is why the project is named Intermediate House."

The kitchen area can be sealed away by sliding wood slats

Shelving, desk space, food preparation area, and an entertainment system were designed to be part of the concrete slabs that hold up the I-beams.

Putting most of the furniture in the walls, which can be covered by folding wooden doors, helps to make the most of the 7.2-metre-wide lot. Equipo de Arquitectura used designs by 20th-century modernist Louis Kahn to inform this tactic.

A mango tree stands in a courtyard between the two sections

"These frames are the actual frames of the furniture," said the studio. "So the structural support turns into the functional support, or vice versa."

"With Kahn we learned that structural support can become functional support, which is why the entire roof of the house rests on the furniture that makes up the perimeter of the property," they added.

Furniture is housed within the structural concrete walls

Other furniture items in the centre of the rooms can be moved when needed to open up the space.

Glass doors allow the back block to be closed off from the courtyard, while the quincho remains open.

Sliding glass panels allow for ventilation

Sliding wooden slats can also be used to conceal the living room from the bedroom, which is the last in the sequence of indoor spaces on the linear plot.

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Beyond is another garden at the rear of the house, which can be accessed through the bedroom.

A glass wall dividing the two brings in extra light and offers views of the greenery.

A garden in the rear of the house is just off the bedroom

Throughout the residence, the floors and wooden slats are made out of curupay – a local wood.

"Everything was made by local craftsmen, so the processes were pretty slow and delicate," said the studio.

Structural concrete also separates areas including the bathroom

Equipo de Arquitectura has previously renovated a synagogue in Asunción using board-marked concrete and warm wood.

For more homes that utilise space on narrow lots, see this list of 12 skinny houses that make the most of every inch.

The photography is byFederico Cairoli.

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Bidi Bidi music centre designed to "change the narrative around refugees" in Uganda

Ethical investment company To.org has enlisted architecture studios Hassell and LocalWorks to create a music centre that will uncover talent in the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda.

Due to break ground in April 2022, the Bidi Bidi Music & Arts Centre will provide a platform for gifted artists based in the huge settlement, which is home to over 270,000 South Sudanese refugees.

"We want to change the narrative around refugees," said Nachson Mimran, CEO and co-founder of To.org.

"Someone once told me that talent is equally distributed while opportunity is not, and that become really apparent when I first visited a settlement in Uganda," Mimran told Dezeen.

"In one week we interacted with so much talent – athletic talent, visual artists, beat boxers, rappers – but there was no infrastructure to support them. That's why we launched this mission."

The Bidi Bidi Music & Arts Centre will have earth block walls and a lightweight roof

To.org has an innovative business model that combines venture capitalism with creative activism.

At Bidi Bidi, the organisation is collaborating with non-profit Playing for Change Foundation and NGO SINA Loketa, with the ambition to create both a community resource and a creative incubator.

The building design has been developed through a partnership between international architecture firm Hassell and Kampala-based LocalWorks, in collaboration with engineering giant Arup.

The structure will take the form of a sheltered, open-air amphitheatre that can double as a performance venue or a community meeting space.

It will provide a recording studio and spaces for music training. There will also be a tree nursery, a vegetable garden and fresh water facilities – all essentials for a community where food shortages are rapidly worsening.

The interior could be used for community meetings or performances

The building will collect rainwater through a huge funnel in its lightweight roof structure – similar to the Serpentine Pavilion created by Diébédo Francis Kéré, an architect who has also been involved with To.org.

"The type of structures that Francis does are really great for climate, so we we learn a lot from him," said Xavier de Kestelier, a principal and head of design at Hassell.

"Instead of having a thick roof that radiates heat, this lightweight roof will actually cool down the building."

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The walls of the Bidi Bidi Music & Arts Centre will be built from compressed earth blocks.

"The design is a very interesting combination of low tech and high tech," said LocalWorks founder Felix Holland.

"The walls of the entire building will be made out of material excavated right where the building is being built. We will cut a terrace and start making blocks on site."

The project is due to complete by the end of 2022

The Bidi Bidi Music & Arts Centre is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

Mimran is confident it will make an impact on the settlement, which was only established in 2017, when South Sudanese refugees were forced to flee the ongoing civil war.

He points to a previous project in Nakivale, another Ugandan settlement, where To.org worked with locals to build a small building shaped like a 1977 Chevrolet ice cream van.

Mimran has since seen the building being used as a meeting room, a pirate radio station and a production facility for organic sanitary pads.

The building will be located at the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in northern Uganda

Mimran believes these areas such as Bidi Bidi need to be treated as new cities, able to thrive as long as they are provided with the right infrastructure.

"Anything we do here, we bring the same dedication, energy and quality as elsewhere in the world," he said. "That's how we change narratives."

Other recent projects in Uganda include the Mount Sinai Kyabirwa Surgical Facility, which is topped with solar panels.

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