The family house in Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, was complete in 2021. The determining elements for the design have been the dialogue between the natural terrain of the plot with its views. Simple lines and clear volumes, natural lighting and horizontal features combine harmoniously.

The access to the house is from the highest point of the plot and then following the outer slope of the land we cross the first garden through large stone platforms, which lead us directly to the access of the main volume.

The foyer reveals an interior patio that organizes the uses of the house, clearly dividing the day program: living room, dining room, kitchen and service area, and the night program with the bedrooms.

The day area has a spacious terrace with large windows where there is a gradual and fluid transition towards the garden and the pool, which is located at the lower level of the plot, thus providing a feeling of protection and privacy through the natural environment of the terrain.

The most intimate program – the night area –  oriented to the east, is made up of bedrooms, allowing maximum privacy. Under this wing of bedrooms is the cellar room.

FH2L Arquitectos

The post Hage House was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The project was developed at Povo, in the outskirts of Leiria, Portugal; an area where rocky elements, limestone lands, irregular topographies and sharp contrasts dominate the landscape. Thus arises the idea of a cave: An austere, carved and denticulated refuge that is humanized by its occupants. This premise is a tribute to the beginnings of humanity and its symbiotic relationship with the environment it inhabits; it contains in itself the paradox of the perennial and harsh stone that becomes a natural and maternal refuge.

The project is marked by a multiplicity of circuits that order spaces with harmony and simplicity through a central element: light, which interacts breaking the primitive elements and the sinuous lines with subtlety.

The program for this 3 bedroom house was divided in two and a half floors, where a patio distributes, arranges and connects both the interior spaces and the exterior paths. The main access involves the existing pine forests and frames the vegetation between its walls at sharp angles. This structure at the entrance uses a double height space of generous proportions to connect with the livingroom and to allow the view of the north / west landscape, but also provide light and heat from the south-facing patio, that is adapted to the irregularity of the terrain. From the living room there is access to a concrete balcony, a space for contemplating the sunsets.

On a different level, an external access leads to the office, distinguished by the wide glass opening. This division is half a floor above and also leads to the roof that provides a 360º degree view of the surroundings. From here it is possible to circulate through another ramp connected to the patio and to a private secondary access that allows visitors to access the office directly without going through the house.

Casa Povo respects and adapts to the terrain, differentiates itself in a subtle and delicate way, maintaining a harmonious relationship between the public and the private. The spatial distribution and volume of the rooms follow and reflect the topography of different levels. The soft elevation ramp allows direct access to the patio, the living room and the kitchen, connecting all elements both inside and outside.

The creation of an internal garden with ramps gives the project the necessary integration, in addition to the almost playful sensorial expression used by children with the interconnection of the garden to the roof, allowing a permeability of the cave with the frameworks that section the spaces built with the garden.

Underneath the office, halfway through the room is the service area with connection to the outside. The solution allows light and natural ventilation through the gaps between each level of the staircase that connects the balcony of the room to the office on the upper floor.

The need to connect spaces creates a strong narrative of spatial distribution and fulfills its function while guiding the rhythm and composition of the shape of the architectural object.

The exposed concrete with, wooden slatted formwork, is the predominant constructive element on the facades and follows a monolithic volumetry, providing the protection that inspires it: a humanized cave.

Contaminar Arquitetos

Fernando Guerra – FG + SG

The post Casa Povo was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The starting point of the project is the replacement of the existing house in the outskirts of Madrid with a new single-family house. The pool stays but stands out and becomes visible from near all the spaces inside the house having maximum exposure to the sun. The house has also an optimal view of the garden.

The core of the house is developed through the patio-staircase, dividing the program into two floors. On the ground floor are the living room and kitchen. These rooms have large glasses (windows) that overlook the pool and garden, thus maintaining a great spatial fluidity.The first floor is divided into two wings communicated through an open walkway. One wing has the master bedroom and office and on the opposite side the children’s bedrooms.

FH2L Arquitectos

Amores Pictures

The post House in Mirasierra was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The design brief started with a premise from the client: A space for many books. Immediately, the architects’ imaginary drifted to the many classical renaissance libraries, with sliding stairs that reach the book stacks. The intervention designated a high space, with a clearly established hierarchy between the interiors.

The volumetric composition corresponds to the functional differentiation of the interior spaces, creating a roof as a restless mass with different heights. The roof also figures itself in a fifth façade.

The density and weight of the monolithic cover roof needed to be subverted and the idea of a levitating mass was introduced, resting upon slender wooden frames and glass. The resulting feeling of compression reminds users of their own scale as humans and evokes the ancestral importance of the shelter.

Time, always an important architectural component, becomes essential in the design of this project. The built elements – especially those in concrete – record the passage of time through their formwork texture. This formwork, similar in its variations to the roof skyline, features protrusions and recesses, generating changing shadows during the different hours of the day and giving a dramatic appearance to the facades. As time passes, the textured concrete will naturally age and will be more integrated in the rural surroundings. The same will happen to the wooden base, which will age beautifully, adding to the impression of the house.

Spaceworkers

The post Casa da Agrela was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The house is designed for a young couple (Belen, co-author of this project, and Martin) who are looking forward to growing their family together. The decision was to work out a house of three bedrooms, a kitchen and dining room that integrate with the social spaces, a wide semi-covered area that holds the grill, a fireplace inside the social area, a swimming pool, a semi-covered space to keep two cars, the main bedroom, en-suite with a dressing room, and the second and third bedrooms that share the bathroom.

From the beginning it was important to prioritize the connections between spaces, to enhance social life and gathering activities. Regarding the esthetic requirements, the couple was interested in the use of bare concrete combined with black-color elements for the exterior and common spaces, whilst for the bedrooms they were looking for a more traditional profile, with plastered walls and wooden floors.

The project strategy consisted of breaking down the volume of the house, in a way that none of the façades would express the total height of the building, to avoid showing a robust object. The proportions of a two-story building inside a short plot could cause the perception of a bulky and heavy volume. This fragmentation was achieved with the distribution of the mass, alternating the filled (covered) and void (semi-covered) spaces. This avoids a compact look from the outside and instead creates an effect of permeability.

Τhe ground floor would host little covered surface, so it was laid out in such a way that it became visually open and free, with a predominant volume above it (the upper floor), which rises over the plot as a clean element standing on four concrete feet. Under the shadow of this floating prism is where all social activities of the house take place. The visual strategy consists on hiding the impact of the ground floor from the outside, that means the entrance, social area, and laundry room. To camouflage these areas, dark grey was used on all the ground floor partitions, except for the four concrete feet that hold the upper volume. Furthermore, the solid areas are visually hidden from the front by pulling back the entrance volume and the laundry room, positioning them behind a free semi-covered space for the car entrance. Then, a deep courtyard enlarges the distance between the social area and the street, turning it almost imperceptible. On one side of the courtyard stands the glass volume that holds the staircase and main entrance (in grey color on the front side). On the other side of the courtyard stands the grill area, which is separated and sheltered from the street by the volume that holds the laundry room, also in a dark grey color.

Towards the rear of the plot, the volume that holds the social area of the house faces the garden and the swimming pool. Inside, to the left side is the living room, which relates to the main entrance; to the right, the kitchen and dining room are connected to the semi-covered space of the grill area. Both living room and kitchen-dining-room areas are integrated and divided at the same time, due to a hanging sculptural element in bare concrete that works as the space for both the television and the fireplace, becoming the heart of the gathering area of the house.

Since there was not much vegetation compared to the built surface, and the intention was to generate an atmosphere that enhanced the contact with nature, the social area are positioned in direct relation with the garden and a large courtyard occupies the center, structuring the floor plan and allowing the alternation between open and closed spaces. In this way, the exterior becomes present in every space in a controlled manner, still encouraging the feeling of shelter.

The top floor is approached through a double-height space that faces the courtyard through a full-height glazing. The two secondary bedrooms face towards the front of the house, while the corridor that connects them incorporates an integrated desk, which faces both the internal courtyard and the backyard. The main bedroom is positioned to the right of the courtyard and concludes in a large terrace that fits into the entire width of the plot. The pergola acts both as a shelter from the sunlight and it visually completes the floating volume, to make it look as a compact element.

The courtyard brings light and wideness to all the spaces, and the vegetation will give privacy and contribute to climate regulation once it is fully developed.

Ekaterina Künzel, María Belén García Bottazzini

Daniela Mac Adden

The post Castaños House was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.