The new proposal by Emiliano López Mónica Rivera Arquitectos has a large entrance hall at the main entrance to the house and forty-six interior rooms linked according to their degree of privacy. The large common spaces complement small intimate spaces, avoiding segregating users.
The house follows the main Passivhaus standards, incorporating mechanical ventilation systems and correctly insulating the exterior ventilated envelope, which is insulated on all four sides of the house using wood fibre and cork insulation. Triple-glazed enclosures are used to avoid thermal bridges and air leaks and to place exterior solar protections with horizontal slats in the areas most exposed to solar radiation.
House in Arteaga by Emiliano López Mónica Rivera Arquitectos. Photograph by José Hevia.
Project description by Emiliano López Mónica Rivera Arquitectos
The house is located within the building limits of Gautegiz Arteaga in the surroundings of the wetlands of the Urdaibai biosphere reserve. The watershed formed by the Oka and Golako rivers flows into Mundaka, where it forms an extensive estuary flanked by beaches. The climate is humid and temperate with rainfall throughout the year, although less frequent in the summer months.
The land where the house is located is within the southern building limits of Arteaga. Its shape is irregular and has a slight downward slope from south to north. On its east and north sides the plot follows the curved layout of the Bo Orueta road and on its south side it borders on rustic land.
The house is located along the Bo Orueta road following its concave shape towards the south and adapting to the gentle slope of the land without hardly modifying or touching it. Large Markina limestones placed on wells filled with ballast raise the entire house, lifting it off the ground to allow the ground and air to pass through intact under the house.
The gabled roof over the entire house expels the rain, creating an intense curtain in front of the large windows and collecting it around the perimeter of the house at ground level. Access to the house is via the central part of the convex north side. At this point, a large open hall is formed that provides shelter for vehicles and the main entrance to the house. Inside, forty-six rooms of different sizes, corresponding to the degree of privacy, are linked throughout the house. Larger common spaces are complemented by smaller intimate spaces that shelter the individual without segregating him from the rest of the inhabitants. The total construction in wood accentuates the feeling of shelter throughout the house and especially in the spaces of contact with the body where the house becomes furniture. The structure is made of larch cross-laminated wood. The insulation is made of wood fibres and cork. The façade and roof cladding is made of acetylated radiata pine finished with a grey silicate-based mineral patina.
The design and construction of the house followed the standards of passive house, with extensive insulation of the four ventilated sides of the exterior envelope. Very airtight enclosures with triple low-emissivity glass and a total absence of thermal bridges and air leaks were used. Exterior solar protections made of horizontal Soria pine slats that can be rolled up have been incorporated in the areas most exposed to summer solar radiation. The extraction and supply of air in the house is constant and controlled by a double-flow mechanical ventilation system that incorporates a heat recovery unit to transfer part of the energy contained in the stale extraction air to the fresh air that is introduced into the house. With the sum of these measures, a 75% reduction in heating and cooling consumption in a standard home is achieved.
The house obtained an energy rating of class A with an energy consumption of 22.43 kWh/m² per year and emissions of 3.83 kg of CO2/m² per year. The power contracted with the electric company is 4.6 kW.
