Casa 1413, Catalonia | Spain

The village of Ullastret, with its characteristic stone architecture and narrow, irregular streets, is located in the east of Catalonia. This is where the new Casa 1413 construction project from HARQUITECTES can be found. The design was for a holiday house that fits in ideally with its medieval environment and the identity of its village centre.

The building is based on the idea of introspective architecture. In the same way as in the middle ages, the whole building adapts to the geometry of the street but it also remains in proportion with the existing stone wall. The irregularity and rawness of the outer walls give the building a powerfully historic mode of expression. Some stones from old walls have been used for the frontages to provide an untreated effect and also to work in a sustainable way.

The ground plan shows how the garden permeates the interior and how climate variations throughout the year transform the nature of the building. While the heavy material absorbs the sun’s rays in winter and releases them later, the interior spaces can be opened up completely with verandas facing the garden in warmer times.

The interior spaces of the Casa 1413 have a clear industrial style, with exposed channels, wooden doors and window frames as well as walls of polished concrete. The interior has a colour palette of natural tones such as beige and light grey. The geometric rectilinear nature of the building is emphasised with the modern, surface-mounted LS Cube from JUNG.