Location: Coves Noves, Menorca, Spain
Project size: 3,110 square feet
Program: On the Spanish island of Menorca, Shift House offers summertime refuge—and panoramic views of the Mediterranean—to a small family, with added space for guests.
Design Solution: Working with a small site, architects Alicia Casals and Karl Nyqvist of NOMO STUDIO began this villa by manipulating a simple rectangular volume with planer and sectional shifts. Fluted, sand-colored concrete walls are sliced by ribbon windows, terraces, and patios, creating a dynamic composition of solid and void, heaviness and lightness. Ample glazing ensures views in all directions and a constant deluge of daylight, too.
On the main floor, living and dining areas spill out onto a terrace (with a pool) that stretches toward the sea, providing what the architects call a “playful, boat-deck feeling.” An exterior stair leads up to a furnished roof deck, while five double bedrooms with private terraces and ensuite bathrooms are located on the lower floor. Below grade, storage and workspaces are lit by a sunken patio.
Photo © Joan Guillamat
Structure and Materials: Shift House is structured by concrete posts and one-directional slabs made of prefabricated beams and lightweight bricks. Rubble masonry privacy walls, teak casework, and soffits with wattle panels add a symphony of textures to the villa’s fluted facade. Inside, tones are muted but equally rich: rough-polished white concrete flooring and travertine steps complement off-white walls and beige micro-cement in bathrooms and in the kitchen. Built-in wardrobes and bathroom furniture made of pine feature airy ratan.
Additional Information
Completion date: June 2022
Site size: .13 acres
Total construction cost: $905,000
Client/Owner: Withheld
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Photos © Joan Guillamat
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Images courtesy NOMO STUDIO, click to enlarge
Credits
Architect:
NOMO STUDIO
C/Mestre Nicolau 27
08021 Barcelona
+34 935 340 790
www.nomostudio.eu
Design team
Design Lead and Principal: Alicia Casals San Miguel
Principal: Karl Johan Nyqvist - SAR
Project Team: Jennifer Méndez, Mira Botseva, Blanca Algarra
Engineers
Mus&Segui Arquitectos Técnicos (building engineer),
Windmill Structural Consultants (structural)
Consultants
Gabinet Tècnic (topography)
PIMELAB (geotechnical)
General Contractor
Construcciones Fernández Nájera SL
Photographer
Joan Guillamat
Specifications
Structural System
Structure: Cast-in-place concrete, concrete prefabricated beams and lightweight concrete bricks
Exterior Cladding
Masonry: White fluted concrete blocks
Metal/glass curtain wall: Glass handrails with hidden floor support
Rainscreen: Waterproofing super matt coating
Precast concrete: Floor-slabs made of prefabricated beams and lightweight concrete bricks
Wood: Iroko wood
Windows
Metal frame: Brown-tone Anodized Aluminum, TECHNAL
Glazing
Glass: Double glazing with 90% argon chamber and low-emissivity film
Doors
Entrances: Iroko wood
Metal doors: Galvanized metal covered with Aquapanel board and sandstone mortar
Wood doors: Pine wood
Sliding doors: 3 panel sliding door, pine wood (kitchen)
Hardware
Locksets: stainless steel
Closers: stainless steel
Interior Finishes
Wall coverings: (Micro-cement in bathrooms and kitchen)
Resilient flooring: Cast-in-place white concrete
Lighting
Interior ambient lighting: Ceiling-embedded downlights, wall-embedded light in interior stair
Downlights: Ceiling-embedded downlights
Tasklighting: Wall-mounted lights
Exterior: Wall-embedded with concrete lamps, Floor-embedded spotlights, garden mobile spike lights integrated in vegetation
Dimming system: JUNG LS 990, matt white
Plumbing
Bathroom faucets: Sanycces Loop, nickel matt finishing
Kitchen faucet: Blanco Finess, brushed stainless steel
Kitchen washbasin: Blanco, Claron, brushed stainless steel
Energy
Energy management or building automation system: Aerothermal heat pump for air-conditioning and sanitary water
