RSV House / Arkylab

Curated by Clara Ott

Architects: Arkylab
Year: 2018
Photographs:Oscar Hernández
Manufacturers: B.lux, Cemex, Construlita, Interceramic, Legrand / Bticino
Lead Architect: Luis Morán, Ana Martínez

Text description provided by the architects. What the project seeks in material terms regarding the physical envelopes, is transparency and honesty of the used components, presenting them in a natural way, nothing presupposed or simulated. Letting the characteristics of the materials create the conditions of each space, closing out the sunlight and heat gain, opening up to the views, allowing natural ventilation and cherishing the relationship with the garden as an induced natural element.

The walls of compacted earth make up the foundation, the walls on which the house is constructed on, in a direct material reference to where the house is placed, using all the material obtained when excavating in the various underground layers of the plot.

RSV House / Arkylab - Exterior Photography, Brick, Facade — © Oscar Hernández

RSV House / Arkylab - Exterior Photography, Facade — © Oscar Hernández

The floors are divided into three objectives, the social, the private and the functional areas. The ground floor unites all the social spaces and is completed with a polished concrete floor, subjected to a laser levelling and polishing process that unifies it and allows it to be perceived as a great monolith. In a transition from the outside to a protected interior space, the second floor that hosts the bedrooms and the family room is a laminated wooden floor that aims to create warmth and privacy, while in the complementary and functional spaces the right combination of porcelain tiles is sought to allow practicality in the wet areas and a harmony of materials that generates a spatial sense.

The windows of all the spaces towards the garden forced us to work with transparencies. The given climate and the orientations of the spaces allow this and hence a perception of a more ample space is achieved by multiplying the openings and having a direct relationship with the garden and the covered terrace.

The artificial lighting of the space is accentuating the key points of each space, giving the possibility to conceive different environments in the spaces. The use of LED lights was considered an energy-saving solution, and for the same reason, natural light is present in a direct, controlled and functional way in all spaces as well. A special module of latticework was manufactured on site to allow access to the views of the sunset and to control the solar angling on the interior of the west facade. Further, it forms a canvas of reticular light that dramatically penetrates the dynamic spaces of the house.