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 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 concrete has a brown hue that gives continuity to the colour of the stone. The wood used on the façades is dark to integrate with the tree trunks and to last long, while the wood used inside is brighter and softer.
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.
Architect
Ramón Esteve
Project Team
Estefanía Pérez
Jacobo Mompó
María Parra
María Luna
Visuals
Tudi Soriano
Pau Raigal
Building Engineers
Emilio Pérez
Carolina Tarazona
Constructor
Covisal Futur S.L.
Site Manager
Gonzalo Lin
Partners
Prodin Ingeniería
Structo Ingenieros
