a luxury house with a low budget

 

located at torre en conill, a very wealthy neighborhood in valencia, spain, PLAYstudio‘s JA house proves that low-cost and high-value design can successfully coexist. this single-family house satirizes contemporary valencian architecture by evoking its agricultural past. ‘luxury’, low cost, and a certain sense of humor are the three constants that have navigated its design. the final composition proposes a sequence of geometrical structures wrapped in white to simultaneously combine traditional with contemporary architecture. PLAYstudio's JA house merges vernacular with contemporary valencian architecture
aerial photograph by víctor llanos de la concha
all images by josé hevia

 

 

satirizing contemporary valencian architecture

 

to limit the execution cost, the design team at PLAYstudio opted for a single house, with a regular unidirectional structure. and a simple and continuous envelope to solve both the facade and the roof. taking its cues from the traditional way the agricultural constructions were organized, the design presents a house resulting from the aggregation of several spaces, each with its own form and interior experience.

 

on the one hand, the composition follows an environment of predominantly white and cubic houses, which somehow come to represent a large part of valencian contemporary architecture. on the other hand, it is represented by constructions with a vernacular appearance; embodying, therefore, a certain nostalgia for mediterranean arab architecture. ‘in this sense, and as opposed to the alien and alienating image of super-white walls and cubes or tiled pitched roofs, JA house finds its personality and identity claiming, not without irony, a certain ultra-local condition.’PLAYstudio's JA house merges vernacular with contemporary valencian architecture

 

 

an oasis in the forest 

 

the volumes extend along the plot to maximize the sweeping views opening towards the greenery surroundings. while emerging as a wall from the outside, it offers a great viewpoint to the green landscape from the inside. the configuration itself maintains privacy, increasing the feeling of an oasis in the forest. in this way, the idea of isolation-privacy adds to the radical relationship with the adjacent green landscape, as well as with a strange yet familiar aesthetic (heterogeneous forms, large pergola, etc.); and all of them make up a series of very simple decisions that contribute to generating a high value, albeit at a very low economic cost.

PLAYstudio's JA house merges vernacular with contemporary valencian architecture
conceptual reference – agricultural constructions of the huerta de valencia

PLAYstudio's JA house merges vernacular with contemporary valencian architecture
a series of geometrical structures

PLAYstudio's JA house merges vernacular with contemporary valencian architecture
a luxury touch within vernacular architectrure

PLAYstudio's JA house merges vernacular with contemporary valencian architecture
overlooking the adjacent golf course

PLAYstudio's JA house merges vernacular with contemporary valencian architecture
optimizing natural sunlight

 

 

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project info:

 

name: JA house
designer: PLAYstudio

design team: iván capdevila + josé manuel lópez ujaque // marta carranza pérez (interior design)

location: valencia, spain

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: christina petridou | designboom