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VIEWPOINT HOUSE

Cocentaina, Alicante, 2020

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Best Luxury Architecture, Luxury Lifestyle Awards 2021

Categoru Single Residential Project

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Concepts as abstract as transparency, concrete, purity, water, wild, green,… among others, are the starting point of this house project. Apart from previous point, a complex site with a significant slope and unique views to the Carrascal de la Fuente Roja Natural Park, complete the starting line.

The presence of existing buildings in neighbouring plots, with the resulting risk of losing the power of the site views, determines one of the main project strategies: the creation of a dorsal spine that distributes the access itinerary towards the house, introducing the livable space until the very full heart of the site plot and avoiding any obstacle between the visitor and the breathtaking views on the horizon. The spine, built from exposed concrete folds, is conceived as a nearly public space prior to the house entrance, where there is a series of  settings that are more linked to a scale order superior to that of the domestic one: stands, shadowed parking spaces, viewpoints, etc.

At the end of that linear element the viewpoint house rests. The pronounced cantilevers help the compositive autonomy of the house piece stand out in relation to its structure. A house with a concise brief, with no pretentions, where the interior materials’ warmth -with wood as the main character- alleviates the intentional roughness of the exterior concrete. As a protection against the harsh western sun, the façade is fully covered by a system of sliding aluminium slats sheets, in a brass finish, that enhances the morning eastern sun reflections.

Following the classic rules of functional architecture,  the layout is based on a daylight area, with an open space including living room, kitchen and dinning room, and a night area, with a main bedroom and a bathroom facing the natural landscape. Among these two areas, the water. The crossing swimming pool becomes an architectural resource that divides the house into two pieces, the day and the night areas. The lower floor, directly set on the plot land and with an independent entrance, creates the perfect spot for the guests area. A unique space, with an exempt interior wooden volume, containing the bathroom and distributing the living spaces around it. The connection between the lower and upper floor is solved by a funny samba stair.

The plot landscape, still bare due to the project’s short life, is understood as a space that is alive itself. On it, agricultural green spaces, car parking spaces, resting spaces, even spaces to contemplate, in an indiscreet way, what takes place inside the swimming pool.

The experience of living this house comes complete at the most intimate point of its plot. At the end of the dorsal spine, and once the itinerary throughout the project has been completed, the climax comes. The house seems to merge with the pre-existing big trees at the lower part of the plot. A spacious terrace, as an extension of the interior space to the exterior, opens itself towards the landscape.

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Design Credits:


Architecture and interior design: CLAVEL ARQUITECTOS  Manuel Clavel Rojo / Luis Clavel Sainz

Team: Ricardo Carcelén González, David Gil Delgado, Robin Harloff, Ginés Sabater Arnaldos

Construction Manager: David Hernández Conesa

Safety Coordinator: David Hernández Conesa

Photos by David Frutos (BISimages) 

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