CONCEPT

Single-family detached house located in the Urbanisation of “Los Robles” in Torrelodones. The plot is rectangular in shape, with two of its boundaries facing Calle Olmo and Calle Abeto, the latter being the most representative and the one that will be accessed by pedestrians. The remaining party walls adjoin similar plots. The plot has a surface area of 2,493 m2.

The plot is enveloped by the existing vegetation, which is taken advantage of and opens up to its immediate surroundings. A large mass of pine and fir trees form the backdrop to the house.

The project arose from the need to create a dwelling with a notable horizontal component, which is formalised through two planes that protect it from the exterior and are joined by large glazed facades that in turn give it fluidity, allowing it to appropriate the depth of the garden.

In order to enhance the horizontality of the house, it has a single storey above ground level. A great sense of comfort is achieved by giving the building a very human scale. The service rooms are located in the basement, which is ventilated and illuminated by several English windows.

The house thus consists of two floors, with a total surface area of 620 m2 (including porches and terraces).

The volume is designed on two levels, a lower one supporting the ground floor programme and an upper one crowning the house with a roof garden.

From the interior, a panoramic view of the entire plot is achieved, so that the construction-landscape limits are diluted, giving the house total interior-exterior continuity. In addition to the light that can be received from the large windows that make up the façade, the roof is perforated by light boxes that introduce natural light from above into the most noble spaces of the house.

The whole forms a prism with very fine, polished edges. The house responds to a minimalist design with absolute respect for the architectural principles of the modern movement and with a marked purist and formal character.  It presents a high level of sophistication in the construction details that confer great singularity to the house.

THE INDOOR SWIMMING POOL

Based on a square floor plan, a central piece of water and light forms the heart of the house, opening up to the entire perimeter. This gesture generates a sheet of water or “impluvium” as a meeting point for all the rooms, in the manner of a Roman atrium through which the house is accessed and giving life to the rest of the spaces.

In addition to generating access, it organises the rooms and connects them visually. Dominating the centre of the house, it creates a mirror that amplifies the exterior by reflecting the interior. In this way, the entrance to the house becomes a pleasant, changing and harmonious place.

PROGRAMME

The house is organised on two floors, developing the more technical and server programme in the basement and the needs of everyday life on the ground floor. This makes it a very comfortable and functional home, with all the main programme on the same level.

BASEMENT FLOOR

The basement floor is used for technical rooms, storage and even a garage with space for up to 4 vehicles, the rest remains unused.

These rooms are accessed through the English courtyard next to the access, allowing the maintenance of equipment and installations without accessing the house, enhancing privacy and security.  It also has a changing room that serves the tennis court.

The rest of the basement remains unused and could house leisure programmes and multi-purpose rooms such as a gymnasium, games rooms, wine cellar, cinema room, etc. These uses would be possible since several entrances of light and ventilation are foreseen.

The west façade allows the opening of openings taking advantage of the slope of the ramp. On the north and east sides there are two English courtyards, one of which allows exterior communication with the basement. It also has another entrance of light through an underwater glass from the indoor swimming pool on the ground floor.

GROUND FLOOR

On the ground floor, the programme is distributed with the night area facing west and the day area facing east. Both areas are linked by a double-height, open-plan entrance hall, which connects to the basement via a staircase. The indoor swimming pool is placed as the organising and focal point of the house. In such a way that the sheet of water forms the main part of the core of the house.

The practically diaphanous day area, in its distribution integrates the uses of kitchen, living room, dining room, supported by a server block facing north.

It is a space overlooking the well-tended garden and with the best views of the tennis court. At the same time it is connected externally with the different porches facing east, south and west, enjoying the different covered spaces depending on the time of day.  Inside, the living-dining room opens onto the swimming pool through a sliding wooden slatted screen and is separated from the kitchen by a sliding glass door.

The kitchen has a large pantry and is connected to the server areas in the north block. This block contains uses such as a laundry room with a covered and uncovered interior patio for drying clothes, a garage for two vehicles with storage. It has an isolated central hall, which allows the mobility of the service, preserving the privacy of the inhabitants of the house.

The sleeping area has 3 individual bedrooms with large dressing rooms and en-suite bathrooms. The master bedroom enjoys triple orientation, with access to the outdoor porch and direct access to the indoor swimming pool and jacuzzi.

In this bedroom, the rest area, bathroom and dressing room are connected and directly related to each other. It has a large double dressing room and a bathroom that is equipped with a linear washbasin with two basins, a more private area where the bidet and toilet are located, and a shower room with a freestanding bathtub with views of the exterior.

OUTDOOR

Outside, landscaped spaces with natural grass prevail over paved areas. It is designed in such a way that the house is surrounded by a garden, minimising the use of hard paving.

The use of pavicesped on the exterior facilitates road traffic, allowing the paved areas to merge with the garden, becoming an extension of it.

The existing vegetation on the plot is complemented by the landscaping design, adding more trees and plant elements, which enhance the project by generating an inverse sensation in the form of a forest that surrounds the house.

The exterior is equipped with a tennis court with the ideal orientation for playing tennis: North-South, located slightly below the level of the house, giving the best views of the house. It is accessed via a grandstand that absorbs the difference in level. In the project, the court is designed with the same idea of integration and therefore the playing surface is made of natural grass, and can also be integrated with a clay court, or as a fast cement court if maintenance is to be made easier.

MATERIALITY

The materiality is based on the idea of the project that accompanies the sobriety and purity with which the house is treated from the outside.

The perimeter enclosures are made up of large sheets of glass that make the interior and exterior merge into a single space. The interior-exterior continuity is magnified thanks to the use of minimalist joinery with minimal frames that try to disappear. Extending the house to the outside and blurring the limits.

The blind walls are finished with white SATE walls that reflect the light and inside we get a thermally comfortable place (elimination of thermal bridges). The glass panels will be protected by large overhangs with an aeroplane wing section starting from the carpentry and ending in a fine and refined edge of 10cm. This favours the outside view and the entry of air into the interior, and controls the sunlight.

The roof that envelops and protects the interior spaces becomes a large carpet of vegetation that increases its integration into the floor plan and allows rainwater to be retained, controlling the interior temperature, purifying the air, reducing the ambient temperature and promoting biodiversity in the environment.

The interior of the house is conceived as a space that flows and connects the rooms in a very natural way, being able to create semi-independent spaces thanks to the large sliding doors that give a richness and dynamism to a changing and versatile space.

The Calacatta marble flooring dresses up the interior space, creating a clean surface that amplifies the lighting of the home. A warm and welcoming home is achieved by cladding the walls that form the core of the house with natural oak wood panels.

All the elements and details, however small they may be, breathe the same philosophy and language with which the house is designed.