Architects:Estudio Alberto Burgos, Javier Cortina Maruenda, Space Popular

Area :235 m²

Year :2020

Photographs :Mariela Apollonio

Collaborating Architects : Estudio Alberto Burgos, Javier Cortina Maruenda

City : Santa Bárbara

Country : Spain

The Brick Vault House is a prototype for suburban house construction that integrates industrialised construction methods with traditional craftsmanship in Valencia, Spain. It is designed by Space Popular in response to a commission from a local developer, and in collaboration with Estudio Alberto Burgos and Javier Cortinal Maruenda.

The driving design principles of the Brick Vault House respond to regionally available construction techniques –both traditional and contemporary– and the Spanish Mediterranean climate. It is organised around a structural grid system, which allowed us to resolve the typical construction details so that future houses could have different configurations, avoiding replication but still maintaining some level of standardisation. The character of the house is given by its structural materials –the green steel frame and exposed load-bearing brick vaults present throughout all spaces, and its irregular modular layout –creating numerous porches and terraces as well as varying views. The house responds to its context by adopting local construction methods both old and new.