We understand architecture
as an aesthetical practice
that drives a potentially
transforming force

Garaia Farmhouse

2023

The house is located on a 3.3Ha plot where there is already a free-range poultry farm. The farm occupies the southeastern end of the plot, strategically located in the slightly depressed area of ​​the plot where it shows less impact and where it is also protected by a small, leafy forest that preserves it to the north and towards the access road.

From the plot, to the north, you can see the center of the village five hundred meters away, and the Gorbea mountain behind. And the city of Gasteiz to the south. The clear condition of the terrain provides a continuous view of the surrounding landscape in three hundred and sixty degrees. In a plot like this it is difficult to define a 'main' flank. The visual relationship with the village, the views of the distant ridges in all directions and the presence of the access road complement the conditions of orientation, winds and sunlight.

Of the entire plot area, 2.5 Ha to the south are allocated to free green space for the chickens. And the remaining 7,600 m2, limited, in the northern part, higher and closer to the little town center, are intended to house the new home and orchards. The house is located close to the road so that the minimum area is urbanized, preserving the green character of the land. There is no interest in extending definitions of hard soil beyond what is strictly necessary.

The house faces the village with its gable roof parallel to the road and its highest front facing the village.

Regarding the functional and program aspects, although the proposed volume with the strong presence of the gable roof brings us closer to the traditional archetype of the farmhouse, the distribution of the program in a 'Y' plan facilitates functional and efficiency issues. The house is zoned into three areas that are located in the central hinge of the living room. Surrounding it is the access and services area formed by a garage, kitchen and storage and laundry rooms in the arm to the south and two wings to the northeast and northwest that house the rooms. This distribution responds to the current needs of the family, and offers easy adaptability to the coexistence of several generations and different degrees of occupancy of the house. And at the same time it allows the house to look in all directions.

The central interior space of the shared living room extends to the exterior in each of the three directions defined through three porches protected by the two roof skirts that collect the three most beautiful views that relate the heart of the house with the landscape towards the adjacent mountains and towards the plain to the south.

The construction definition responds to a reinterpretation of the traditional type of the farmhouse with a structural definition of load-bearing walls and a gabled wooden roof. The composition of facades with an external insulation system combines a textured render finish with specific panels of wooden cladding. It is about combining an image that can easily be associated with the traditional farmhouse (without falling into pastiche) with issues of normative demand for efficiency and economic-constructive rationality.

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