House in Costa Brav

House in Costa Brav
© Duccio Malagamba

HOUSE IN COSTA BRAVA

Mauro Conti + Joaquim Mestre Ferrer

ARCHITECTS
Joaquim Mestre Ferrer, Mauro Conti

BUILDING COMPANY
Construcció i Reformes GERCAS

STRUCTURE
Construcció i Reformes GERCAS

INSTALLATIONS
Enginyers Vizcaino

PHOTOGRAPHS
Duccio Malagamba

AREA
840 m²

YEAR
2010

LOCATION
Girona, Spain

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

The residence is sited in a housing development on the hillside of the Aro Valley, on the Costa Brava of Girona province, some 100 km to the north of Barcelona.

The 840-m2 plot has a peculiar shape, which is the result of the division into plots applied on the lower and upper sections of the main street and bounded on the western side by a 180-degree curve, which also forms a boundary between the housing development and a green zone.

House in Costa Brav
© Duccio Malagamba
House in Costa Brav
© Duccio Malagamba

The land is sharply sloped and despite its irregular shape is well oriented from north to south longitudinally and has exceptional views over the valley and the sea.

The project is a single-family home for a couple with two children. A home, a place of sanctuary, a place of peace and quiet, of harmony, a place for sharing, for retreat, in which to play and to work, a hideaway for loving and for arguing.

Three moments.
Arriving (basement floor). The mountain protects me. The basement is my cave. I have arrived in my refuge. I take off my coat and shoes.

House in Costa Brav
© Duccio Malagamba
House in Costa Brav
© Duccio Malagamba

I have arrived home. I am at home. You arrive from outside. You discover the spaces and the volumes. The water guides you to a staircase. You go up.

The swimming pool accompanies you, the lounge, the dining room... and the kitchen?Your gaze now focuses inside. I see you. You too have arrived.

House in Costa Brav
© Duccio Malagamba
House in Costa Brav
Site Plan

Sharing (ground floor). Family, friends, interior and exterior exist harmoniously, without any doors, without any barriers, or fences or railings, or blinds or curtains. The construction’s resulting shadows protect us.

Rock, water, wood, iron and concrete, for building spaces, revealing corners, encountering and finding oneself, creating moments and memories.

House in Costa Brav
East Elevation
House in Costa Brav
West Elevation

Interrelated spaces, modulated by height, by virtually imperceptible changes in level, by the associations with the outside (is it really outside?), ... our world is your world.

Resting (first floor). The frame. A compact volume, which is hermetic on the outside and opens out inside. A cut in the side façade for revealing the day every morning and a great projecting front opening from which to immerse oneself in the Aro Valley.

House in Costa Brav
South Elevation
House in Costa Brav
Detail


A unique interior space, hierarchically organised by pathwaysand modulated by the sequence of rooms… our world is my world. A simple house. Simply a house, and happy clients. Good.


House in Costa Brav
Lower Floor Plan
House in Costa Brav
Basament Floor Plan
House in Costa Brav
Roof Floor Plan
House in Costa Brav
Upper Floor Plan
House in Costa Brav
Site Plan


House in Costa Brav
Section
House in Costa Brav
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House in Costa Brav
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