The programme consists of a house with eight bedrooms, two of them in the basement, a living room and a dining room, a kitchen and a laundry room, a pantry, a complete bathroom for all the bedrooms, a garage for two cars and an outdoor swimming pool to be built in the future.
It can be said that the plot is divided into two distinct areas: one of flatter and more stable lower elevations, to the west of a pre-existing stone wall supporting a vineyard plantation; and the part to the east of the same wall, with a slope that becomes steeper as it approaches the public road, a road with a much higher elevation.
The house is located to the east, three metres from the stone wall described above. All the pre-existing features of the land have been preserved (topography, vegetation, walls and entrance).
The existence of three different areas (living rooms, bedrooms and services) led me to design an "H" shaped house. An entrance in the middle of the solution articulates these three areas, creating total independence between them. It was also possible to plan or level the floor of the house in the longitudinal direction, since the terrain has a pronounced slope in the transverse direction.
The north-facing orientation of the house provides an open relationship between inside and outside, as there is no need for canopies or curtains. This orientation also means that the landscape is more natural, allowing you to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
The choice of fair-faced concrete evokes the idea of a body of natural stone from the ground that appears on its surface. In this way, the expressiveness of a continuous reinforced concrete structure, which is the most effective on a site with these characteristics, is taken away, further optimising the limited economic resources available.
Reinforced concrete floor slabs will also be constructed, creating an air gap between them and the ground, which is essential to ensure good waterproofing and better thermal behaviour on a site with such a high water table. The reinforced concrete walls will be finished on the outside with special formwork and their stereotomy has been designed. PVC sheets will be used to waterproof the foundations, walls and roofs.
The roofs will be covered with thermal insulation and their finish, in vegetation, will create a large garden with vegetal soil, which will help with internal cooling. The terraces will be filled with vegetal soil for a green finish. The few non-resilient walls will be of steel frame, tinned and painted white inside the house.
The interior floors, doors and skirting boards will be Travertine, except in the water areas. The external doors and windows will be wood with double glazing for better thermal and acoustic insulation.
