The courtyard, one more room. Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo
16/06/2021.
[VLC] Spain
metalocus, MARINA ARIAS
metalocus, MARINA ARIAS
The studio headed by Fernando Olba Rallo is commissioned to design a house in the old Valencian fishing district of El Cabanyal. With a width of just over 3 meters and holding a block between two streets, a house emerges that seems to grow as we enter it.
The architect aware of the climatic conditions of the environment squeeze the concept of patio. To make the most of the air currents and maximize natural lighting to articulate and distribute the space, understanding it as one more room.
The architect aware of the climatic conditions of the environment squeeze the concept of patio. To make the most of the air currents and maximize natural lighting to articulate and distribute the space, understanding it as one more room.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio.
Site plan. Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo.
Longitudinal section and four levels floor plans. Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo.
West elevation plan. Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo.
East elevation plan. Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo.
Sketch of west elevation plan. Eco wood house in El Cabanyal by Fernando Olba Rallo.
This bio-constructive house by Fernando Olba Rallo located between two party walls is structured in two independent volumes connected to each other by a staircase located in the courtyard. It houses the common areas on the ground floor and the rest, a room for yoga and a large terrace, in the upper volumes.
Built with materials of natural origin, especially of wood and derivatives, both in its structure and in its finishes, it follows the commitment of the architect Fernando Olba to reduce CO2 emissions
Built with materials of natural origin, especially of wood and derivatives, both in its structure and in its finishes, it follows the commitment of the architect Fernando Olba to reduce CO2 emissions
Description of project by Fernando Olba Rallo
Construction of a new two-storey house in the old fishermen neighbourhood of El Cabanyal in Valencia. The dwelling is built in the space left by the demolition of an old semi-barraca (old vernacular construction linked to the orchards surrounding Valencia, made out of bricks, wood and straw roofs). The urban fabric of El Cabanyal suffered from many years of political attempts to try to destroy it in order to build new taller houses out of the result of opening up a new 50 meter wide avenue through the neighbourhood. A very strong citizen organization managed to stop it altogether with the new city left government.
The site has a width of 3,20m by 18 m of length with a double entrance from parallel streets. The urban fabric dates from the early XIX century where the original barracas, aligned next to each other parallel to the sea, have progressively been substituted by new houses following the E-W orientation. The challenge to design in such a narrow site had necessarily to consider a central courtyard as well as a tridimensional section.
The house consists of 2 independent volumes of different height connected by a wooden walkway and staircase placed in an open sky central patio to guarantee cross ventilation and natural light, a characteristic of Mediterranean popular housing. The lower level contains the day program open both to the street and courtyard whilst the upper levels are kept for more private use as well as the studio and terrace. The walkway between both sides of the house becomes a place to be more than a functional element, The wooden strips used to build the staicase are made of ash tree, the same wood is use to make the boats from the nearby Albufera lake.
Designed with sustainable architecture criteria, the house is built with light weight timber frame for slabs and façades supported by a steel structure due to site constraints, natural cork insulation and clay panels on the party walls and lime mortar on the exterior to keep the house breathing to control humidity. We used a proper external thermal insulation composite system made out of 80mm cork panels to wrap the house to get all the benefits of a green building including aerothermal energy for heating water.
We looked to lower CO2 emissions whilst keeping connected with tradition and the memory of the Place.
More information
Architects
Client
Private.
Builder
ELO Construcciones.
Area
119,67 sqm.
Budget
€ 145.000.
Dates
Construction time 10 months. Completed in February 2020.
Location
El Cabanyal, Valencia, Spain.
Photography
FERNANDO OLBA RALLO
Fernando Olba Rallo studied Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, completing his degree in 1987, and received his Master of Architecture from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1993.
From 1990 to 1994 he lived in Los Angeles, CA, where he was a teacher assistant at the USC School of Architecture. He collaborated with prof. Panos Koulermos in his project for a Conference Center at the University of Crete. In 1993 he worked for Anshen & Allen LA. In 1994, Fernando Olba was awarded the first prize in the Europan 3 international competition with a project of requalification of more than 80,000 m² in the city of Ourense, Spain, which provided him the opportunity to return to Spain. In July of 1999 Fernando was selected as Design Director at Santiago Calatrava´s office in Valencia with whom he collaborated until November of 2000 coordinating all his projects in Spain.
Fernando has taught and lectured at the Schools of Architecture of Valencia and Venice, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the Villa Olmo in Como, the Instituto Galego da Vivenda e Solo in Santiago de Compostela, the Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (Nai) in Rotterdam, the International Conference Center in Geneva, the Faculty of Architecture in Alghero and Politecnico di Milano, Italy, the AIA Pasadena Chapter, USA and the School of Architecture in Coventry University, UK.
Since 2001 he runs his own office, FERNANDO OLBA Arquitectura + Urbanismo, in Valencia, Spain. Since 2010, Fernando has been researching on green Architecture and off-site construction becoming a member of the Green Building Council Spain Chapter last 2019.
For the last 8 years, he has been an active member of the jury panel for the TAMAYOUZ EXCELLENCE AWARDS. In April, 2016 he gave the opening lecture at the Applied Science University in Amman, Jordan for the workshop regarding the TAMAYOUZ AWARDS where he took part on the review of the students graduation projects. In 2020 he has been selected as a jury member for the new Court Complex Competition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
From 1990 to 1994 he lived in Los Angeles, CA, where he was a teacher assistant at the USC School of Architecture. He collaborated with prof. Panos Koulermos in his project for a Conference Center at the University of Crete. In 1993 he worked for Anshen & Allen LA. In 1994, Fernando Olba was awarded the first prize in the Europan 3 international competition with a project of requalification of more than 80,000 m² in the city of Ourense, Spain, which provided him the opportunity to return to Spain. In July of 1999 Fernando was selected as Design Director at Santiago Calatrava´s office in Valencia with whom he collaborated until November of 2000 coordinating all his projects in Spain.
Fernando has taught and lectured at the Schools of Architecture of Valencia and Venice, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the Villa Olmo in Como, the Instituto Galego da Vivenda e Solo in Santiago de Compostela, the Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (Nai) in Rotterdam, the International Conference Center in Geneva, the Faculty of Architecture in Alghero and Politecnico di Milano, Italy, the AIA Pasadena Chapter, USA and the School of Architecture in Coventry University, UK.
Since 2001 he runs his own office, FERNANDO OLBA Arquitectura + Urbanismo, in Valencia, Spain. Since 2010, Fernando has been researching on green Architecture and off-site construction becoming a member of the Green Building Council Spain Chapter last 2019.
For the last 8 years, he has been an active member of the jury panel for the TAMAYOUZ EXCELLENCE AWARDS. In April, 2016 he gave the opening lecture at the Applied Science University in Amman, Jordan for the workshop regarding the TAMAYOUZ AWARDS where he took part on the review of the students graduation projects. In 2020 he has been selected as a jury member for the new Court Complex Competition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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