Cracks in the Glacier

Both the mainland and island of Chilean Patagonia boast an unmistakable characteristic: detachment. This territory is marked by a constantly shifting and fragmenting terrain. The detachment creates crevices, isolations, torsions and new tension points. Glaciers detach from huge masses of ice, trees are bent by the wind, and islands are cut off from the land. Its geography bears witness to powerful erosion.

Likewise, this bottling plant—located at kilometer 48 along the road to Fuerte Bulnes in Punta Arenas—is based on the interaction of natural forces, reflecting these detachments and tensions. It harnesses and uses this energy, in keeping with its surroundings.

Sustainable design principles are applied through solar gain in the interiors and in the structural elements, ensuring the materials will enjoy a long lifespan. Water—in its various states—is also harvested, especially as ice, which produces unique forms that are reflected in the structure, the large windows and the morphology of the floors. This material is characteristic of Patagonia’s modern history: resistant, flexible, affordable, low-maintenance and capable of handling extreme climatic conditions.

The master plan includes a museum dedicated to the history, geography and other aspects of the local culture that seeks to show visitors the unmistakable qualities of one of the purest and least-polluted places on earth.•

Daniel Bebin (Madrid, 1975) graduated as an architect from the Universidad Central de Chile (2003). Tomás Saxton (Santiago de Chile, 1976) graduated as an architect from the Universidad Andrés de Bello (2003). In 2005 they founded Bebin & Saxton Architects. They currently live in Sydney, Australia where they teach a masters program in sustainable design at the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Sydney.