Villarcayo, Spain
Site Size: 7,566 square feet
Project Size: 2,220 square feet
Program: A young family, on a limited budget, requested a contemporary design for their house in a suburban neighborhood in northern Spain. They asked for a single-story house to complement the scale of their garden and a large sitting room and terrace with direct access to the outdoors.
Solution: The rectangular poured-in-place concrete structure features maple cladding with floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing visitors to see through the house from north to south. Concrete walls on the west and east ends offer privacy from the dense development surrounding the dwelling.
Exterior materials continue indoors, where the floors and ceilings are concrete and walls and doorways are lined with wood. The architects emphasized (and allotted the most square footage) to the glass-enclosed dining and living areas in the middle; bedrooms, bathrooms, study, kitchen, and garage are on either side. A freestanding outdoor shower, made of concrete, extends the palette of simple materials to the garden.
