thick-walled house
The house is located in a municipality in the Maresme region, at the edge between the historic center and a low-density residential development consolidated prior to the real estate boom. The surrounding fabric—small plots occupied by detached houses of generic expression, often resolved as white cubic volumes—coexists with the presence of former farmhouses and the material continuity of the old town.
The site, one of the last undeveloped parcels in the area, contained several mature Mediterranean trees. The project begins by preserving these elements and using them as an ordering structure rather than introducing an autonomous object onto the plot.
The house is organized through a modular grid of three equivalent rectangles. Their position responds to the trees and to solar orientation. This arrangement allows spatial continuity in the shared areas while introducing a controlled fragmentation that provides privacy and potential for future adaptation.
Two courtyards are inserted between the volumes. They guarantee natural light and cross-ventilation in summer, while enabling solar gain during the winter months. All rooms benefit from direct light and controlled orientation.
The building is conceived as a load-bearing masonry structure with a variable envelope thickness, ranging from 45 cm to 1.10 m depending on orientation and thermal exposure. Walls are filled with earth from the site and combined with ceramic brick layers, ceramic floors, and brick vaults, forming a massive construction with high thermal inertia. A lime mortar finish ensures breathability and hygroscopic regulation of indoor humidity.
The use of traditional construction systems is based on climatic performance and local availability rather than nostalgia. The project relies on established building knowledge and supports proximity-based craftsmanship and vernacular techniques.
The environmental strategy is entirely passive: thermal mass, solar protection, cross-ventilation, and controlled solar gain. The house operates without active cooling systems in summer, relying on the stability of its heavy envelope to maintain indoor comfort.
Within a relatively homogeneous recent context, the project proposes a way of building rooted in place, climate, and material logic. The aim is durability rather than formal distinction: a construction intended to age over time, drawing from vernacular precedents that demonstrate how constructive clarity and climatic adaptation can produce spatial quality with limited means.
