Dubbed Casa GE, this newly built low-energy house in the town of Seva, nestled in the middle of Monstseny Natural Park, north of Barcelona was designed by Alventosa Morell Arquitectes. The home is located on a sloping triangular plot, tucked between two streets, and is designed to be a simple and minimal family home that has minimum energy requirements while maintaining a serene and solid connection to the garden. The home is quite modest and perfect for a close-knit family.
Designer: Alventosa Morell Arquitectes
The studio had a unique strategy for designing the home. They created a strategy with two approaches. At first, they surveyed the site and then selected the best spot to construct the home which was the highest and flattest point. This minimized earthworks and protected the pre-existing trees, while also maximizing the views. They also developed a brand-new construction system that can support a complete shift in the organization of the internal space, allowing it to transform from an open plan to a more intimate and conventionally designed space. It is a single-story home with a linear plan. The bedroom is connected to an office, and then a living room, kitchen-diner, and terrace.
The main rooms have a stunning view of the garden. They are amped with sliding glass walls which are teamed up with patterned brickwork. A large terrace opens up to the kitchen which is sheltered with an oversailing pitched roof. A simple porch features a solitary column and flat roof, which perfectly contrasts the terrace. The entire house is designed to be simple and low maintenance. The windows on the southern side offer solar heat in the winter while providing shade during the summer season. Skylights and sliding doors offer cross-ventilation during the hotter parts of the year, while excellent insulation enables the house to be heated via a single pellet-burning stove.
Casa GE is a prime example of excellent low-energy construction which is the specialty of the architects – Marc Alventosa and Xavier Morell. The architects make an effort to ensure that all their projects are “socially, economically and environmentally responsible”, and Casa GE is certainly no exception.
