Technology and tradition in harmony with the environment. Gesep House by Jaime Prous Architects

Description of project by Jaime Prous Architects

Five tangent volumes of different heights configure this vernacular construction. The volumes are in different heights and different dimensions to adapt to the territory and the interior program they protect. Each of these volumes responds to a piece of the main parts of the house.

These stereotomic volumes are opposed to a completely tectonic and light element: a pergola, which besides protecting you from the sun, adapts to the different needs of the inhabitants and the climate: covered, uncovered, pergola, textile, with vegetation... In this way, all the volumes are connected through an outdoor space generated by the pergola porch.

If on the outside, all the spaces are connected longitudinally through the pergola porch. Inside, this longitudinal axis is repeated, inspired by the spatiality of the Thorvaldsens Museum. This connects the different volumes and pieces of the program while ensuring infinite visuals in the interior.

In the transversal sense, another axis is also generated in each of the independent volumes. In this way each exterior volume has its axis, in all the pieces of the main program of the house, a poetic rhythm is generated that repeats itself: garden-pergola-interior space-garden. In this way, the successful relationship between interior and exterior space is guaranteed.

This spatiality is enhanced by a delicate work of light, which forms one more material of the architecture. The most private and intimate spaces, such as bathrooms, are worked with zenithal lighting. The intermediate spaces, such as bedrooms, are worked with natural lighting through openings with different orientations and landscapes. Those more public spaces, such as the living room, dining room, hall, and kitchen, are worked with a magical element in this architecture: glass walls that appear and disappear depending on the needs; large glass windows are hidden inside the walls. Once again, this fusion between exterior and interior is sought, literally in this architecture.

The materiality of this house is based on industrialized craftsmanship and is in line with current environmental requirements. For this reason, the architecture combines tradition and state-of-the-art technology in the search for a house that meets all Passivhaus requirements.

Structurally the house is built with load-bearing walls using the fundamental principles of traditional farmhouses. Its envelope uses a traditional English construction system: the Cavity Wall. This ensures an adequate level of insulation while avoiding energy loss through thermal bridges.

Overheating or solar overexposure is taken care of with a pergola porch. The design of this architectural element is studied to guarantee solar protection in summer, but in winter to capture the sun's rays that help to heat the interior of the house thanks to the thermal inertia of the materials. 

Technology and tradition come together in perfect harmony to protect the environment.

The materials of the architecture seek identity with the place itself as well as a contrast between modernity and tradition. The lime stucco of Mediterranean character is identified with the place while a light pergola in earth color and delicate carpentry with a black anodized finish identifies you with the current era. The exterior materials are transferred to the interior, bringing an extra degree of warmth with the use of natural oak wood.

Pure volumes, walls that appear and disappear, contrast between stereotomic and tectonic, traditional architecture, cutting-edge technology following the principles of sustainability... all this articulates a unique architecture to adapt to the territory, minimize its environmental impact and excite the people who live in it.