Solo House

Solo House is one of 12 holiday houses commissioned from different architecture offices, and scattered across a vast secluded area in the hills of the Matarraña region, south of Barcelona. It stands in the midst of a natural forest, its circular plan framing the edge of a plateau overlooking the landscape.

The floor and the roof – two 4,5mwide ring concrete slabs with an inner diameter of 40m – define the house as an enlarged perimeter. The roof is supported by 4 steel frames of 9 columns. Positioned as chords of the circle, they collectively describe a square. The 4 segments they define are the only enclosed areas of the house. 3 of the 4 are enclosed by glazing set within the steel frames and sliding arcs of curved polycarbonate panels covered with streched aluminium mesh. These Large stretches of curtain facade slide on the outer edge of the circle, allowing the living areas to fully open, and providing a maximum relationship between the dweller and the surrounding nature. All appliances are mounted directly on the columns. The 4th segment serves as a pool house, the floor of which retains the water of the sloping basin within the inner courtyard.

-Since the terrain is not connected to any services, the house will be completely self-dependent. On the roof, an exposed collection of machines required to ensure the house’s self-sufficiency, disrupts its formal consistency. Photovoltaic panels will provide thermic and electrical energy, which will be stocked in buffer tanks. Water is claimed on the site itself, and purified after use. Each of the devices are placed as abstract objects on the roof.