HOUSE IN

AN OLIVE
GROVE

VALENCIA

INFO | IMAGES | PLANS

El proyecto consiste en hacer convivir el estudio de un músico con su vivienda. Ubicado en una zona de viviendas cerca de Valencia, donde las casas vecinas están muy próximas entre ellas.

A natural landscape with fantastic panoramic views and a respectful path leading to a grove of 167 olive trees. The project is predicated on a compromise between a desire to be part of the landscape and the desire to capture it.

This proposal is located at the highest end of the grove, offering a dynamic interpretation whose dimensions transform as one circulates around it. The layout marks off three different ambiences: the porch-like entrance, the private area facing the grove of olive trees and the belvedere overlooking the tree tops.

The relationship with the outside is enhanced, magnifying the contact perimeter. This allows the circulation of breeze to cool the summer heat. Tangential views of the outside are fostered thanks to the geometry of the ground plan, and together with the suction-effect created by the curved surface, blur the inside boundaries of the house, which always seems to promise more. A feeling of privacy and protection is simultaneously created by the human proportion of spaces.

Each of the night areas located on the top floor offers a different perspective of the landscape. The main bedroom overlooks the only access to the house. The south-facing corridor acts as a Trombe wall and invites one on a journey whose possible end (or beginning) can only be seen when reaching the stairway atrium bathed by the eastern light.

The daytime areas are located on the ground floor; the stairway and bathrooms are next to the wall, leaving the maximum free space for the arrangement of other uses depending on likings, seasons, circumstances…

The well and the fireplace designed to use wood from the olive trees are proof of the desire for self-sufficiency. On another note, the reliance on the outside world is patent in the garage.

The construction is based on repeated rowlock elements permitting a natural and simple construction of its geometry with the curvature being absorbed by the grout… The same criteria are applied to the rest of the building elements, using local traditional materials. As time goes by, these materials will blend in naturally with their surroundings.