NH House / Marc Rifà-Rovira

Architects: Marc Rifà-Rovira
Year: 2013
Photographs:Jaume Prat, Jordi Comas

Text description provided by the architects. Single family house located on the outskirts of a small mountain village in the countryside of Cabrerès,

This is a project with an extremely low budget, for a family with three young children. With a very definite program: house in a single level of about 170m2, which is complemented with a large porch, a 100m2 study, and a garage.

The project was approached from three areas: the relationship with the environment, the relationship of the house with its inhabitants and the relationship with technique.

The elongated site has a moderate slope to the west. We propose a single volume, very compact; 8x21m, located in the upper area of the site, closed to the neighboring lots and open with a large window to the west (views) and south (sun), through a semi-open courtyard, with a porch at the end that looks over the landscape.

The position of the house in the upper part of the site, generates a basement space, which opens to a large green platform to the west, as an extension of the interior study, while functioning as access to the garage.

Conceptually, it is proposed as a mineral volume clad in organic matter: the materials are minimized and the processes industrialized: a unique material for the volume, precast concrete (structure, enclosures, floors), covered externally with organic material (cork, wood and vegetation); its heart is organic again.

All materials are left untreated, so that they can age naturally: this way, the cork and wood facade evolve towards gray, while the green plants will extend on the concrete, completed by a green roof, gradually merging with the colors of the surroundings.

Inside a new organism grows and occupies the space, domesticating it, making it a home. It supplies all domestic services and functions (kitchen, bathrooms, closets, shelves, building services, interior enclosures, furniture, flooring, ...). The remaining space is free, available for its occupants, to be used as living areas, to dine, play, read, work, ...

We propose a house capable of interacting with its inhabitants, so that it can adapt to their changes not in a traumatic way: this is why we propose this interior organism with building systems and materials found in bricolage (pinewood and OSB panels).

In addition, we took into account environmental and sustainability criteria in both the position and orientation of the house, in the choice of materials (many of them natural and untreated, from certified farms), in the construction process (a high percentage of prefabrication, green roof, exterior insulation...), minimum impact on the environment (reduction of construction times and almost zero waste), the study of building services (biomass boiler, solar panels, ventilation with heat recovery...)