Row House
Olot, Girona, Spain · 2012
Photo · Photo by Hisao Suzuki
A precedent for inserting a highly transparent, modern glass-and-steel structure within a historic stone-walled residential envelope, balancing heritage preservation with contemporary spatial openness.
- What we like about this project
- The traditional terracotta roof tiles are left exposed on the interior ceiling, visible through the glass facade.
Materials
- glass
- steel
- exposed-concrete
- stone-masonry
- terracotta-tile
Visual identifiers
- glass-facade
- stone-party-walls
- exposed-rafters
- infill-architecture
- courtyard-house
Style tags
- contemporary
- minimalist
- regionalist
- material-contrast
Visual tags
- transparency
- historic-context
- contemporary-insertion
- interior-exterior
- urban-infill
- Geometry
- A double-height glass volume is inserted between two historic stone party walls, capped by a traditional pitched roof with exposed timber and terracotta tiles.
- Facade system
- Floor-to-ceiling structural glass facade with minimal steel framing.
- Structural guess
- Exposed concrete portal frame supporting a timber roof and steel-framed glass facade.
- Spatial scale
- Double-height residential volume scaled to match the height of the adjacent historic stone walls.
- Lighting
- Dusk lighting with warm interior uplighting that highlights the concrete structure, glass floor edge, and underside of the tiled roof.
- Atmosphere
- A serene, glowing sanctuary at dusk where modern transparency meets heavy, historic stone masonry.
- Environmental context
- Infill urban courtyard flanked by high stone boundary walls and traditional multi-story residential buildings.
- Spatial experience
- The facade acts as a completely transparent lens, dissolving the boundary between the interior living levels and the private courtyard while framing views through the depth of the house.
- Composition rhythm
- Symmetrical structural framing with a strong horizontal floor plate dividing the upper and lower glazed volumes.
- Style reading
- Contemporary regional minimalism
- Program
- Private residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- glass, steel, exposed-concrete, stone-masonry, terracotta-tile
- Visual identifiers
- glass-facade, stone-party-walls, exposed-rafters, infill-architecture, courtyard-house
- Style tags
- contemporary, minimalist, regionalist, material-contrast
- Visual tags
- transparency, historic-context, contemporary-insertion, interior-exterior, urban-infill
- Geometry
- A double-height glass volume is inserted between two historic stone party walls, capped by a traditional pitched roof with exposed timber and terracotta tiles.
- Facade system
- Floor-to-ceiling structural glass facade with minimal steel framing.
- Structural guess
- Exposed concrete portal frame supporting a timber roof and steel-framed glass facade.
- Spatial scale
- Double-height residential volume scaled to match the height of the adjacent historic stone walls.
- Lighting
- Dusk lighting with warm interior uplighting that highlights the concrete structure, glass floor edge, and underside of the tiled roof.
- Atmosphere
- A serene, glowing sanctuary at dusk where modern transparency meets heavy, historic stone masonry.
- Environmental context
- Infill urban courtyard flanked by high stone boundary walls and traditional multi-story residential buildings.
- Spatial experience
- The facade acts as a completely transparent lens, dissolving the boundary between the interior living levels and the private courtyard while framing views through the depth of the house.
- Composition rhythm
- Symmetrical structural framing with a strong horizontal floor plate dividing the upper and lower glazed volumes.
- Style reading
- Contemporary regional minimalism
- Program
- Private residence
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture