Project Credits:
- Architect: Ramón Esteve
- Project Team: Estefanía Pérez, Jacobo Mompó, Anna Boscà, María Parra
- Photographs: Mariela Apollonio
- REE Collaborators: Tudi Soriano
- Area: 985 m2
- Year: 2021
- Partners: Prodein Ingeniería, Índigo Ingeniería, IMG Windows, Carpintería Palmer
- Technical Architect: Emilio Pérez, Carolina Tarazona
- Landscaping: GM Paisajistas
- Project: 2017
- Location: Valencia, Spain
Located in a consolidated housing development near Valencia, Olea House starts from some complicated geometry and constraints; particularly the narrow façade available on the plot. Its design is based on the breaking of the volume of the house and the generation of several pieces that seek to suit those initial handicaps.
The house recalls the local vernacular architecture by adapting the stone plinth of the nearby dwellings. The different
pieces of the house have a stonework plinth that is higher or lower depending on the proportions of the piece and its
openings.
Each piece protrudes from the attached one in order to articulate a layout that tries to generate different views of the garden and establish spatial and visual links between them. Their height depends on the use of the room that they host. The set is topped by a lookout piece that opens to the distant views of the city.
This play on composition generates a fluid and varying interior, thus providing a different perception of each room, caused by the variation in the proportions of the pieces and openings. The openings are sized and placed according to the
sights that they aim at, while the façades are thoroughly designed to create a balanced composition that integrates these various openings and the duality of the materials.
The stone plinth is topped by a white concrete trim, cast in such a way that the two materials form an expressive, complementary set that provides the house with a strong tectonic character.
We access the house through the setback between two of the pieces. The ground floor opens to both sides of the plot, while the pool area is more open and passable. On the other hand, the views from the back garden are more controlled and
enclosed.
The ground floor hosts the rooms for daily use as a kitchen, dining room, and double-height living room, to which are attached guests’ pavilion, a cinema room, and an indoor pool. The bedrooms and the lookout, dedicated to the studio area, are hosted on the first floor.
Water is an important element here, thus linking the indoor and outdoor pool to the rooms. A sliding window hidden by a wall when it is opened, becomes the link between them, thus enhancing their continuity. The slot on the
swimming pool allows access to natural light in the basement and projects the reflections on the water.
