Detached House

Pictures

Description

The respect for the natural environment was the protagonist in the development of this project, located in a mountainous area of Estepona. The big challenge was to develop a detached house within a forest environment worthy of protection and respect. The location within the plot was chosen by seeking to minimize the impact on both the landscape and the trees. As a starting approach, the architect rejected the idea of grading the site, opting instead for a more delicate intervention minimizing earthworks. Therefore, the project included the recovery of the land's natural profile all around the house, as long as such profile would be affected by the construction process. In order to minimize the impact on the landscape, the house is embodied in a single-level volume, embedded in the ground in order to further reduce the built height, so the back wall, where the windows that provide natural lighting to the servant rooms are located, is partially buried. However, the steep topography of the plot makes the front facade, where the served rooms' windows are located, is high on the ground, so despite being a one-level home, all the windows of the front facade give access to a large flown balcony. The access to the house is located at the eastern end, through a large porch which covers both the car park and the stairs leading to the front door.