They Needed More Office Space—But Just a Little Bit More

In mid-2022, Juan Alberto Andrade, an architect and architectural photographer, and Cuqui Rodríguez, a communications professional with a self-described "architectural soul," were expecting a child. It wasn’t the Ecuadorean couple’s first collaboration: Since 2016, they’ve worked together through their Guayaquil-based architectural photography firm, JAG Studio, traveling around the country for photo shoots and taking on projects both locally and abroad. When at home, they lived and worked in a three-story multifamily building in what Juan calls the "messy but beautiful" Puerto Azul neighborhood.

"We had our office downstairs in a small room," he says, while their apartment was on the third floor. Although the couple enjoyed their nomadic lifestyle, they also enjoyed working from home—but to do more of the latter, they wanted more space and privacy within the family.