On the plains of the Empordà, just a few kilometres from the Greco-Roman ruins of Empúries, stands Casa Tres Patis, a detached 300 m2 house that interprets the classic archetypes of a Mediterranean villa in a contemporary language. Designed by Twobo arquitectura the project is based on a core idea: to create a habitable space where architecture is in dialogue with light, wind, water and the body.
“We didn’t want it to be a house in the middle of the landscape, we wanted the entire house to be the landscape”, say María Pancorbo, Alberto Twose and Pablo Twose of Twobo arquitectura.
A couple formed by an art historian and a film cinematographer who worked in California entrusted the architects with the project. To define the design approach, the couple shared with the architects several key references: on the one hand, the Case Study Houses in California, with their experimental vision of modern habitation; on the other hand, the Greek and Roman ruins of Empúries, where the architecture appears as a vestige and a void in relationship with the site.
Twobo has thus crafted Casa Tres Patis as a set of independent pavilions built around three courtyards, transformed into pillars of domestic life. Each courtyard is a lived in space, a place for gathering and contemplation, an active element of the architecture. The first, open and shaded by a tree, reflects social life in a large square, with a stone table, a barbecue, a climbing wisteria and an area for pétanque. The second reinterprets the Roman impluvium as a place of contemplation and a breath of fresh air. The third, intimate and serene, houses an aromatic orchard evocative of monastic gardens.
The pavilions, in turn, designed as light, almost mobile structures, each address a specific aspect of life: a main structure with a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom, another with children’s rooms and a laundry room, as well as a third as a guest house and workshop. All of them were built with materials in concert with the climate and the environment: ceramic lattices, wooden panels, steel structures and large glass enclosures.
Local artisanal materials are integrated in different corners of the house, adding a new layer of tradition. In this case, the house features lattices and blue tiles made by Cerámica Ferrés, whose workshop is located a few kilometres from the town.
Taking Richard Neutra, a key figure of the Modern Movement in California and architect of Case Study House #20, as a reference, the volumes feature repetitive metal structures and large windows protected by natural shades or triangular lattices, mitigating the intense summer sun.
The house strives to blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors through continuous paths, concrete walkways, large windows and showers that open onto courtyards. A rustic plaster wall embraces the plot of land, protecting the house from the tramuntana wind and framing fragments of the rural landscape for everyone who lives within.
In terms of comfort, Casa Tres Patis incorporates passive and active energy efficiency solutions: natural cross ventilation, ideal orientation to sunlight, insulating walls, grey water ranks and a system of solar panels. All this reinforces the studio’s commitment to sustainable architecture, without overlooking expressiveness or beauty.
Casa Tres Patis does not seek to impose a way of living, but rather merely suggest one, encouraging leisurely rhythms, connection with nature and life around the courtyard. Twobo offers a poetic re-reading of the Mediterranean tradition, where wellbeing emerges from the harmonious relationship between architecture, landscape and body. A house to inhabit with all your senses.
Team:
Architect: Twobo Arquitectura
Project team: María Pancorbo, Alberto Twose, Pablo Twose
Collaborators: Claudia Canalda, Víctor Díaz-Asensio, Ourania Chamilaki
Structural engineer: Jordi Granada
Equipmental, Mechanical, Electrical engineer: Albert Colomer
Lighting engineer: Com led
Landscape architect: DACH(Ourania Chamilaki, Víctor Díaz-Asensio)
Contractor: ARTYCO
Photographer: ⓒJosé Hevia
Materials Used:
Exterior finishing: Iroko wood, ceramic latticework, glass-frame carpentry, SATE system with lime-based mortar, vitrified tiles, sandwich panel roofing Interior finishing: Polished concrete flooring, ceramic or vitrified tile walls, iroko wood ceilings, built-in wooden furniture
Materials: Iroko wood, terracotta latticework, glass, lime-based mortar, vitrified tiles, polished concrete, ceramic tiles, sandwich panels, steel
