zigzag arquitectura: candela house

‘candela house’ by spanish firm zigzag arquitectura all images courtesy zigzag arquitectura

the starting point for ‘candela house’ by spanish firm zigzag arquitectura was the need for a house large enough for the variable and regular meeting of a family composed of 6 families, with a total of 10 adults and 8 children. the idea was to create a family shelter, with a low budget and the scarce construction resources available in a relatively isolated location.

the plot is located in an area surrounded by mountains, aballe dego, close to the river sella, spain. the place suggested the idea of a mountain, hollowed inside, with ‘eyes’ (windows) strategically arranged to capture the surrounding landscape, introducing it into the rooms of the house and avoiding direct views into the homes of the nearest neighbours.

the volume interacts with the surrounding mountains. the folded roof is also a product of the enforcement of the local regulations and the hipped roof indicated by them.

the house has two exterior rooms, facing the north and the south, which highlight the value of the use of the traditional asturian porch as a space extension and a relationship with nature.

capturing the landscape is one of the main aims of the project. the intention is to absorb the surroundings in a precise and controlled way, so that all the rooms benefit from the qualities of the surrounding landscape.

to achieve this, the hard casing of the house is perforated with holes of different sizes and positions, associating each one of them to the capturing of the surrounding landscape.

the programme is organized according to the dominant orientation of the plot. the night programme, bedrooms and bathrooms, is located in the northern area, leaving the southern orientation to the meeting spaces and the double height space: living room – dining room – kitchen.

the porch serves as a link between the day spaces of the ground floor, and at the same time is used to mark the difference with the kitchen-dining room-living room programme. the north porch is linked to the main bedroom downstairs and contains the outside staircase which communicates the upstairs rooms directly with nature.

the circulations inside the house are developed along the longitudinal axis of the house. a ramp serves as the starting point of a ‘promenade’ which joins the different bedrooms on both floors and ends in a mezzanine with a view to the double height, from which the entire house is visually dominated.

the main entrance to the house is from the entrance porch, located in the northern facade, next to the garage entrance. both accesses meet in the hall, from which the promenade starts and connects all the rooms.

the construction system is adapted to the resources available in the area: reinforced concrete structure as well as double brick isolated walls.the facades of the house are made with a dark grey rendering coat and planks of iroko wood. the roof is built with flat concrete tiles, adapting to the material regulations of the area.

site plan – the windows according to the height of the mountain

floor plan

elevations

elevations of windows

section view

program

pathways within the house

project info: location: soto de dego, parres, principado de asturias, spain. project year: 2007 – 2009 authors: zigzag arquitectura – david casino and bernardo angelini structural engineering: jesús crespo technical architect: salvador lópez construction company: ricardo cerdeira y otro cb constructed area: 297.98 sqm photography: b .angelini and d. casino awards: accesit xx premios asturias de arquitectura 2010 colegio oficial de arquitectos de asturias