Casa de la Brisa
It is a unique escape from the crowded City. A house designated to spend the summer and the week ends at the Costa Brava. In this house life is dominated by spectacular views and unhindered fluctuation between inside and outside space. Once one is buried inside the hill, completely sheltered by the pedestal, enjoying the life at the infinite pool, then one would experience an exposed main floor, where the inside and outside confluence and finally one would rest in a bedroom where the view to the sea is the only focus: Three floors, each one with its own character.
Casa de la Brisa is a holiday house situated in a typical village of the Costa Brava, Spain. The strong, expressive volume is anchored on a plot with steep slopes that offer views onto the bay and the open sea.
The client wanted a flexible house that offers him privacy but equally celebrates the unique views of the plot.
Therefore the house is simultaneously introverted and extroverted, granting privacy and accentuating the stunning views. From the hill and side of access it presents itself closed like a defence tower, a fortress. On the other side, where it faces the sea, it is completely open and transparent. Continuous spaces predominate, with no visual barriers between the interior and the exterior.
The building is composed of two floors sitting on a pedestal: Its first floor, where the bedrooms are situated, can be understood as suspended binoculars. Reinforced concrete walls and beams create a 14mx13m space with a 5m cantilever. This generous structure permits a completely open floor plan on all floors. The cantilever has a double function: For the first floor it forms private patios with a hanging garden for each bedroom, providing shade and diffused light. For the main floor, it acts as a double height pergola. The main floor appears as a surface sheltered by the hovering volume of the first floor, vertically connected by the cantilever. It is composed of differently materialized volumes that contain the kitchen, bathroom and other serving programme, hereby generating a continuous open space and enabling the continuity between the interior and exterior. The pedestal contains the 120m2 open garage and a covered recessed living room / loggia for the pool. A tunnel gives access to the garage where a window connects the tree spaces garage, loggia and pool. The pool is a carpet reflecting the sky, as it overflows on all four sides.
Casa de la Brisa is a highly flexible building with all the contemporary gadgets such as solar panels, photovoltaic, 5G internet, KNX for all its features, high performance insulation, motorized windows, electrical emergency generator, osmosis water preparation, interior elevator, fully automatic irrigation system with 18 zones, electrolysis and UV filter system for the pool and the latest technology in house security.
The building’s smartness is counterbalanced by its raw materiality: Reinforced concrete, stone, and plaster. The furniture and doors are tailor-made out of oak and Corten Steel. There was no paint used in this house. The interior embodies the signature of the crafts that shaped it: The blacksmith, carpenter, stonemason and plasterer. The building will acquire a natural and authentic patina over time.
