Photographer: Joan Guillamat | ArchDaily

Alfacs / Bajet Giramé

Andreas Luco — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Every year, sometime in the autumn, a four to six-month window opens for small improvement works to be made in anticipation of the desired spring opening date of ALFACS, a vacation spot in Alcanar, Tarragona, on the Mediterranean Sea's edge and near the Delta de l’Ebre Natural Park. Since 2016, the Barcelona-based studios Bajet Giramé and JAAS have been leading this respectful and meticulous gradual architectural metamorphosis: a progressive transformation that adds new elements and quality spaces every year for the enjoyment of its visitors. Maria Giramé, Pau Bajet and Manuel Julià, architects and heads of their respective studios, explain the philosophy behind this renovation under the motto "there is no single project, but a process that is constantly evolving". They emphasize a continuous process of evolution rather than a single, completed project. An approach that underscores flexibility, adaptability, and a long-term vision: There is no "one" project to be completed, but rather a repertoire of strategies and infrastructural actions that have led to a process that is meant to be endless, in constant transformation.

Stepped House / NOMO STUDIO

Clara Ott — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Architecture office NOMO STUDIO has finished a nature-informed villa consisting of four identical rectangular volumes stepping down steep terrain on the island of Menorca. The house features locally sourced limestone, earthenware vaulted ceilings, and sandy-colored masonry and concrete, all blended into a mélange of soft airy tones. The façade keeps a solid-glazed equilibrium and uses heavy high thermal inertia materials, essential to ensure stable temperatures in mild-hot climates.

Paseo de Gracia 125 Building Refurbishment / OAB

Benjamin Zapico — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000

The residential building currently located at numbers 125 and 127 of Passeig de Gràcia was built in 1901 by Leandre Serrallach i Mas, an architect and professor at the School of Architecture of Barcelona.

Garage to House / Judit Falgueras Arquitectura

Andreas Luco — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 02:00:00 +0000

A village businessman who specialized in extracting wood from the forest built a small industrial building in the 1960s. Simple, functional and very humble, this space served as a warehouse, mechanic's workshop and finally as a parking lot for people from all over the city. Practically sixty years later, a family, new to the area, saw in this warehouse, which had fallen into disuse, the opportunity to convert it into a home.

Shift House / NOMO STUDIO

Benjamin Zapico — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 10:00:00 +0000

This Spanish holiday home is composed of simple rectangular volumes displaced on the floor to create a dynamic aesthetic despite the limited space of the plot. The striated concrete walls cut by continuous window openings define this villa as a combination of horizontal stripes alternating between solid and glass.

Concrete Wonders: 40 Impressive Details Using the Cement-Based Building Material

Fabian Dejtiar — Sat, 03 Jun 2023 07:30:00 +0000

Due to its ability to mold and create different shapes, concrete is one of architecture's most popular materials. While one of its most common uses is as a humble foundation, its plasticity means that it is also used in almost all types of construction, from housing to museums, presenting a variety of details of work that deserves special attention.

How to Calculate the Roof Pitch?

Giovana Martino — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 07:30:00 +0000

Roofs often play important roles in a project's identity. In addition to the aesthetic aspect, they play a fundamental role in protecting and closing the building. Of the existing types of coverage, pitched roofs are the most common in homes and buildings all around the world, therefore, it is necessary to ensure that they are within the parameters set out in the technical standards.

Distinctive Restaurants: 5 Refurbished Dining Spaces

Rene Submissions — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:30:00 +0000

Renovating a space for a gastronomic purpose can be one of the most interesting challenges for an architect, due to the freedom of design that tends to characterize these projects. It allows us to play with cladding materials, lighting, and furnishings to create unique spaces that are both attractive and functional for both the restaurant team and the diners.

Serra de Noet Secondary School / Fabregat & Fabregat Arquitectes

Pilar Caballero — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 12:00:00 +0000

The new High School Building Serra de Noet project located in Berga (Barcelona) is the result of a public project competition called by Catalonia’s Government. The project consists of three volumes of clear lines. The main one contains the classrooms and administration block, with three floors. The remaining two are low pieces that meet the needs of the program: school cafeteria/catering/dressing rooms/ gym / multifunctional room. A continuous porch connects the three buildings, drawing a “U” shape creating an exterior playground in front of a multisport track.

El Mallol Civic Center Renovation / Carles Crosas + SOG design

Clara Ott — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 03:00:00 +0000

The reconstruction of an urban hamlet badly hurt by water and abandonment inspires the location of a new collective and multi-functional program through the opening of new interior spaces. The light and air inserted into the building generate a new spatiality that transforms the rigid structure of rammed earth walls and dark rooms.

Regina House / OAB

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 03:00:00 +0000

For me, the new house for Pete Sans, industrial designer and surrealist artist, and Regina Saura, painter and mural artist, in the village of Gaüses in Alt Empordà, has represented much more than a professional commission. It has offered me the opportunity to plan and build a house for friends I feel very close to, both culturally and artistically.

Curtains as Room Dividers: Towards a Fluid and Adaptable Architecture

José Tomás Franco — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 06:35:00 +0000

Over the past few decades, interior spaces have become increasingly open and versatile. From the thick walls and multiple subdivisions of Palladian villas, for example, to today's free-standing and multi-functional plans, architecture attempts to combat obsolescence by providing consistently efficient environments for everyday life, considering both present and future use. And while Palladio's old villas can still accommodate a wide variety of functions and lifestyles, re-adapting their use without changing an inch of their original design, today, flexibility seems to be the recipe for extending the useful life of buildings as far as possible.

La Palometa House / sanahuja&partners

Andreas Luco — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 10:00:00 +0000

This is a detached single-family home located in an enviably scenic enclave in the Plana Alta district of the interior of Castellón. The owners, a foreign couple, wanted a home that could be integrated into its natural environment, adapting to the natural topography of the land, and taking advantage of the existing mountainside terraces. On the other hand, they wanted it to be fully self-sufficient with minimum energy consumption.

Stone House / NOMO STUDIO

Pilar Caballero — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Stone House is located on a hillside facing the north coast of Minorca, Spain. This new dwelling is built with the same technique and material as the ancient limestone walls enclosing most of the farmlands on the island. Its sequence of superimposed stone layers (facade and fences) blend architecture and landscape into each other. This symbiosis is further strengthened by the fact that the facade’s stone was fully collected from the onsite excavation for the villa’s foundation.

Designing Ventilated Façades Using 3.5 mm Porcelain Tiles

Materials — Sun, 12 May 2019 08:00:00 +0000

The ventilated façade is a construction solution that uses a double enclosure distanced from each other by a support structure to generate an air chamber for ventilation. This operation creates a chimney effect that activates air currents by convection, improving the acoustic and thermal insulation of the building, and increasing its energy efficiency.

La Rectoria Chidren’s Summer Camp / OAB

Martita Vial della Maggiora — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 08:00:00 +0000

The Rectoria de la Selva hostel is located where the old rectory of the church of Sant Climent in Navès, Lleida, was located. The church and the bell tower are a seventeenth-century construction of squared and pitted stone.

Seafront House / OAB

Daniel Tapia — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 11:00:00 +0000

The house is situated on Port de la Selva Bay, on the northern coast of Cap de Creus Natural Park, with its face to the sea and the Tramuntana wind. A building between party walls, the house takes account of the cultural legacy of the location and draws its inspiration from the F. Correa and A. Milá’s Villavecchia House and J.A. Coderch’s Senillosa House, both of them in the neighboring village of Cadaqués, these being examples of a respect for the traditional while incorporating conveniences and features of the modern.

Retail Architecture from 100 to 1000 Square Meters: Examples in Plan and Section

Fabian Dejtiar — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 04:00:00 +0000

As mentioned in our previous article on retail stores under 100 square meters, the spatial distribution of commercial spaces is a determinant for its success. Not only does it address adequate logistics and the circulation of customers, but the variations and innovations that will enable a more efficient and original space.