Text description provided by the architects. In a clearing in the pine forest of the southern slope of Mount Abantos of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is situated the house, that embraces an existing Holm oak.

Ground floor plan

Basement floor plan

The place is a privileged vantage point with unique views to the south, visually dominating the plain that extends from the Sierra de Guadarrama to the city of Madrid, which is framed the horizon signed by the high towers of new construction.

Axonometric 01

Axonometric 02

Axonometric 03

Therefore the house is conceived as a large gazebo, open and clear.
It is organized into two levels: the upper with public areas is very permeable, like a floating pavilion on the landscape; and the lower, with the bedrooms, is embedded in the rock of the place opening through porches and windows to the south.

The system that relates and connects the two levels of the house is a concrete slab that folds and shapes the overall envelope. As if it were a floor, deck plans are landscaped, so that from the top of the slope the house is perceived as natural soil, while since its interior is open and bright.

© Jesus Granada

• Architect

  Aranguren&Gallegos Arquitectos

• Location

  San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain

• Category

  Houses

• Architects in Charge

  Maria Jose Aranguren Lopez, Jose Gonzalez Gallegos

• Collaborators

  Pablo Aranguren, Blanca Juanes, Jacobo Arenal Frias, Maria Gonzalez Aranguren, Belen Gonzalez Aranguren, Ander Ibarra Paniagua, Alba Carrasco Simon, Arturo Alberquilla Rodriguez, Simon Frances Martinez, Roberto Ortiz de Landazuri.

• Area

  450.0 m2

• Project Year

  2017

• Photographer

  Jesus Granada