Santa Pola housing. Nestled between the Mediterranean sea and the Sierra de Santa Pola hillside is the residential area of Santa Pola del Este. This strip of land running parallel to the sea is a link for constructions that make up and mirror the coastal landscape.

 

A roughly 40×31-metre plot with a marked height difference of almost 4 metres set in this serendipitous place is the starting block for the project.

 

The commission involves creating two independent buildings, which also have to be connected for regulatory reasons. One of them will accommodate the house, and the other will contain one or various properties that can be sold. But, how can we architecturally create two connected volumes that also enjoy their own privacy?

 

The project takes this question as the main thread running through its design and answers it with three strategies that give rise to the construction’s unique form.

 

Displacements

 

The two volumes of the Santa Pola housing are offset horizontally and vertically from each other. Firstly, the main volume is divided into two and the main building is set forward from the second building to offer both greater privacy. Secondly, they are both offset vertically by half a floor so that the windows do not line up between them, creating a facade with horizontal strips set at 45º and giving the project real personality.

 

The facade

 

The south-eastern facade is concave. This shape slightly alters the views from each volume, separating them and imbuing the project with great expressiveness.

 

The geometry

 

Lastly, the geometry of the complex allows the rooms to be well-oriented, with large windows with terraces opening the space up towards the best views to the south-east, while the facades on Avenida Oscar Esplá are closed off.