I Premio de Arquitectura Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre

All rooms of the house are to have air circulation and
direct natural light. From the beginning, this project
is worked upon in close cooperation with the clients,
who also happen to be the developers and the future
dwellers of the finished property. Therefore, the clients
were present throughout all the stages of the project and
building phases, detailing at all times, together with the
architects, there requirements and sharing their idea
of the “ideal house”. The final architectural shape is a
compact volume, of texturized exposed concrete with
slats formwork, which is pierced to create light shafts.
Different sized slats are placed above the formwork to
create a heterogeneous texture in the concrete, leading
to a game of shadows which change depending on the
time of day.
While the main façade is opaque, and only has two
entrances to the house (garage and main door) in a
huge vitacola wood framework; the back façade opens
to the north with immense windows of “climatit” glass
and aluminium carpentry with a thermal break. In a
formal and functional game, the living-dining room
and the kitchen are separated and each one constitutes
a differentiated volume. With this movement, the living
rooms can be “turned” toward the sea, have a roofpool
above the kitchen, and separate both rooms, yet
preserving a door-less circulation. These two rooms are
ventilated by means of the crack that divides them. In
addition, the living room opens up to the southern patio.
This is appreciated as an external annex to the room, the
image of the sky comes in through the graded difference
of the roof at its section. In the basement, the façade is
setback, creating a garden that works as a visual barrier
towards the roofs of the neighbouring buildings.
The property is distributed on two floors. The ground
floor, towards the main façade, houses the garage with
space for two vehicles, a toilet, the entrance and entrance
staircase to the roof. A transversal patio and the stairs
leading to the basement separate the area from the rest
of the floor. To the north, the living-dining room and
kitchen are located. In the basement, there are three
bedrooms facing the façade, leaving the bathrooms and
library against the reinforced exposed concrete retaining
wall. Three light shafts help these back rooms to also
have natural light and ventilation. The library-study is left
as a “link” room that structured around a patio.
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