Lover's house
by Isla Architects

Mallorca-based office Isla Architects were proposed to transform a skeleton under construction into a house, offering a place to enjoy the island and its climate as a retreat.

The house was inserted into a rustic piece of land in Santa Maria. A flat area forms the center of the island, surrounded by vineyards and protected by a pine forest that the client has been planting for years, with sun all day and panoramic views of the Tramuntana.

Surrounded by a pine forest, a curved ramp leads to the entrance through a wild garden parallel to one of the walls. Once on the porch, a large pivot door opens, inviting us to enter.

The foyer gives us access to the bedrooms. The guest room occupies the first volume of the house and has its own patio. The rest of the rooms are located in the south wing, open to the garden and a large open patio with a tinted concrete bench.

The kitchen is independent but visually connected to the living room,and open to the twin mountains of Alaró. The living room opens up to the panoramic views over the mountain and the garden.

The asymmetric inclination of the roof allows it to open more to the south than to the north, protecting the large windows from the incidence of the sun.

They allow for cross ventilation to better withstand the high temperatures of summer.

An exterior window visually connects the living room with the pool, allowing water reflections to dance in the beams of the room. When its blinds are closed, it filters the light, and the room acquires a red tinge.

The pool is detached from the house so it gets its own space, and slides as another volume of the house that emerges from the ground.

The floor, locally manufactured by Huguet and custom designed for the project, goes in and out, thereby diluting the limit of the house while a series of elements also made of red tinted concrete equips the different spaces.

Washbasins, showers, fiolas, fireplace and benches.

On the outside, the walls are plastered with a rough rust coloured mortar making the house blend in with the land. Inside, the palette is reduced to tinted concrete of the same reddish color, white, copper and natural wood, giving the house a warm and natural atmosphere.

This limited palette of materials aims to create a continuity between the architecture and its surroundings. Monochrome yet vibrant, the house changes hues during the day, reacting to the sun and land, revealing movement through shadows and ever changing material nuances.

Authors Isla architects (Juan Palencia, Marta Colón de Carvajal)
Team Nelson Manuel Fidalgo Magro, Katalina Kulanova
Collaborators Obrema 2000 (builders), Jordi Homar (Construction surveyor)
Client Private
Photography Luis Díaz Díaz

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a project powered by Itinerant Office

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