Country House in the “Cerros de la Santa”

Location: Belt’is de Monroy, Cdceres, Spain Year of construction: 1998 Architects: Estudio de Arquitectura Picddo-De Blas-Delgado Photography: Eugeni Puns

This country-style property is located on a plot in the outskirts of the town and was constructed on a minimum budget based on square footage. From the outset the aim was to make the most of the exceptional views over the Vera Valley and the main window is therefore west-facing, looking out toward the sun setting behind the medieval castle on a hilltop less than a mile away. Having studied the given parameters – climate, location, and client requirements – a two-part scheme was proposed. On the one hand there is a large communal area around which the whole design is structured and, on the other, the remaining rooms that serve and make sense of the first.

The main room is 1314 ft (4.2 m) high and includes the traffic areas, areas for commura use, the main load-bearing walls, and has. of course, magnificent views. The east-west axis, sc apparent in the ground plan, dissolves on entering the living area as this extends into deeper, lower spaces. The relationship between interior and exterior spaces is made more fluid by this and is accentuated by the natural light entering via these outer areas. The external structure reflects a building system based on load-bearing concrete walls.

To achieve greater integration with the surroundings, the building is painted in tones of greenish brown, helping it to blend unnoticed into the landscape.

Updated: 17th October 2014 — 5:51 am