A Harmonious Blend of Architecture and Nature: Casa La Roca

 Barcelona. Spain

Architecture and Interior Design: Ramón Esteve Estudio

Photos  ©  Mariela Apollonio

>>>

La Roca House is located north of Barcelona, just half an hour from the city. The plot is on a hillside facing the sea, with the type of lush landscape found in Mediterranean forest dominated by grand pine trees, holm oaks and cork oaks.

The masses of the house are set according to the location of existing singular trees, which are kept and surround the house.

The design for the house is born of the highest respect for its natural environment. The complex terrain has a main role in the creation and placing of the house. The house looks massive and heavy because of its connection with the ground it emerges from: a large base made of local stone merges with the mountain and becomes one with it. This plinth is topped by brown concrete platforms that protect and extend the interior outwards while pointing at the different sights from the site.

In order to enhance the integration with the landscape, all the colours, textures and chromatic range of the materials mirror the tones in the surroundings. The base is made of the same stonemasonry as the typical Maresme buildings and uses local stone. 

The pedestrian access to the house is on the first floor, under a long cantilevered canopy that takes the visitor in. The day areas and the master bedroom are located on this storey, an open floor plan that opens to the dual landscape: on one side, the presence of the horizon floods the interior space; on the other, the Mediterranean forest provides fresh air and reinforces the direct connection to the environment.

The landscaping is of great importance to the design of the building. The garden has been planned as a field integrated in the Mediterranean coastal forest, including a palette of typical Mediterranean species chosen because of their structure, texture or flowers. These flowers have the same chromatic range as the house, as the orange and ochre flowers mirror the colours of the wood, the steel and the stone in it. There is a wide range of outdoor spaces, such as the courtyards, the gardens, the lookouts or the roof garden, where the vegetation is the main feature.

Casa La Roca on Vimeo