The ground-floor level was hollowed out of the site. It creates a closer relationship with the sea and better use of the garden. A green terrace, “the flying carpet”, will overlook the sea. A ledge path running along the sea reveals and enhances the waterfront of the site. This ledge path serves many places on the site, true singular events with multiple functions.
The layout of the house is not conventional. The real entrance is the courtyard while, for instance, the hall itself is small and forms a transitional space, widening gradually until it reaches the next room and enriches it. The rooms are laid out around the main courtyard. The latter, surrounded by various volumes articulated on the site and the spaces of the house, is bathed in the late afternoon by the setting sun. The light is reflected on the façades that surround it and creates a bright core in the midst of the whole.
From a functional point of view, three accesses have been inserted from the street: the main entrance, serving the courtyard, parking space for cars devised as a “boulevard” where vehicles can park freely, avoiding the regimented effect. For this purpose, a sliding wall is set on the street. Access to the caretaker’s house by a courtyard that can double as a garage. Access to the basement level is provided from three different points: the courtyard, the space devoted to services, and a smaller courtyard located to the east, near the main parking garage. The main access to the house is in the courtyard. A door leading to a rather discreet hall serves two rooms on the ground floor and, upstairs, the living room, dining room, office, and master suite.
The master suite, which occupies the rest of the floor, is a spacious set of enclosed and open spaces in a rich sequence of events and atmospheres framing views of the natural setting: small courtyards, patios, terraces, bedrooms, dressing rooms, and bathrooms. In particular, it has a U-shaped lounge open wide towards the sea and the small courtyard in the heart of the site. The living room develops in length, parallel to the sea. The dining room is oriented to the west.
A large patio located on the north side of the courtyard forms a porch with access from the street. A staircase gives access to the roof, part of which is laid out as a terrace, the rest being covered with greenery, like the relationship between the very mineral house and its site. The small courtyard gives access to the “canyon”, seen as the backbone serving fascinating different nooks and corners of the site. A slope runs down from the living room to the east connects it with the lower level, completing a loop through an architectural promenade on the site.
Author: Paula Pintos
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Architects: Stera Architectures
- Area: 1100 m²
- Year: 2019
- Photographs: Nicolas Borel, Tiziano Canu
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Manufacturers: OTTOSTUMM, Artigianato Pasella, Prolaques, Vitroxa
This article was first published in Arch Daily and is republished with permission.