sustainable 'ca na catalina' brings warm minimalism to mallorca

ca na catalina: modern design for rural mallorca

Architect Ernest Bordoy brings a contemporary new dwelling titled Ca Na Catalina to Campos, a region along the southern coast of Mallorca. The recently completed home takes shape with warm, minimalistic interiors, and prioritizes both environmental and cultural sensitivity to respect the surrounding rural region. The design process began with a deep respect for this context. The team drew inspiration from the traditional Mallorcan dairy farm typology, which is characterized by a single-story, elongated structure with rhythmic openings — with this reference, the architecture maintains a stylistic link with its neighbors. What’s more, the use of marés, a local limestone, for the load-bearing walls and facade maintains a material harmony with the existing vernacular.

Ca Na Catalina is designed to blend into the rural Majorcan landscape | images © Luís Díaz Díaz

the home surrounding a garden

The introduction of a central patio plays a pivotal role in the spatial organization of architect Ernest Bordoy’s Ca Na Catalina. Carved out from the home is a distinct zone for the public areas, such as the living room, which offers direct access from the entryway. Three auxiliary service areas — the kitchen, the fireplace adjacent to the living room, and a window-desk in the main room — are positioned around the patio to allow direct access and natural light for each area. Meanwhile, the bathrooms and secondary rooms are housed within a low sandstone structure found between the main room and the patio, which ensures privacy without sacrificing connection.

architect Ernest Bordoy references the typology of a traditional dairy farm

sustainable architecture by ernest bordoy

The selection of materials and construction systems for Ca Na Catalina reflects a commitment to sustainability and occupant health by Ernest Bordoy. Natural and locally sourced elements were prioritized to minimize the environmental impact. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) revealed a thirty percent reduction in the building’s contribution to global warming compared to a typical build. ‘This represents a saving of 21.5 tons of CO2 eq (nearly the same as traveling around the earth 3 times in a gasoline car),‘ comments the team. Meanwhike, the marés walls and partitions lend half the emissions compared to a concrete block and drywall construction.

The architects prioritized the well-being of future residents by avoiding materials that could compromise indoor air quality. This included minimizing the use of toxic coatings and paints, and opting instead for natural insulation materials, like cork under the roof and recycled cotton within the facade walls. Even the plastered walls use lime mortar, a local product known for its antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, and ability to regulate humidity.

the home is built with local marés limestone to minimize the environmental impact