Quarry house by Ramón Esteve

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Location: Valencia, Spain
Area: 610 m²
Year: 2017

Architect: Ramón Esteve

Collaborating Architects: Víctor Ruiz, Anna Boscà, María Martí, Concheta Romani

Collaborators: Tudi Soriano, Benedetta Chicchini

Technical Architect: Emilio Pérez

Constructor: Redon & Mena

Structures: PRODEIN Proyectos de Ingeniería S.L.

Installation Engineering: Juan Pedro Jiménez Monteagudo, David Gimeno Asensio, Vicente García García

Marble and Onyx Supply: PETRA the Stone Atelier

Photography: © Mariela Apollonio

Production and audiovisual: Alfonso Calza

Music: Henry Holzwarth, Papu Sebastián

Located on the top of a hillside, in one of the most established housing states of Valencia, the House of the Quarry is based on the extreme conditions of the ground with the aim of climbing the slope to get views to the landscape.

A UNIVERSE OF ITS OWN

The layout of the house consists in a set of overlapping boxes surrounded by the ground itself. The house settles in the mountain using an empty space that isolates it from its direct surroundings, thus creating a universe of its own that hosts its inhabitants.

The lower part of the house hunkers down to get integrated in the ground while the upper part opens to two opposite sights: on one side, the views to the sea looking to the horizon filtered by the swimming pool; on the other side, the views of the Mediterranean forest.

VERTICAL GROWTH

The upper part, designed as a fluid space, contains all the day areas. The terrace and the pool have been designed as an extension of the interior that connects the house with the landscape.

The swimming pool is a prism that extends at heights overhanging the bedrooms and the gym.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE HORIZON

The openness of the house is reinforced by a glass front façade without uprights that frames the panoramic view of the sea.

LIGHTNESS AND INGRAVITY

By opening the views to the front and resting only on the sides, the House of the Quarry achieves a feeling of lightness and transparency, thus becoming a quiet place and linking with the horizon.

RAW MATERIALS

The expressivity of the raw materials shows the house as pure structure and mass. A hive of in situ white concrete is pierced by a central staircase of backlit yellow onyx Neve D’or that sew the house from top to bottom with its onyx steps. The overhang steps are expressed as large solid onyx boards that emit light all over their faces, this effect is produced due to a new patented design for its internal structure.

The large backlit natural stone slabs give the house a tectonic character metaphorically linking to the inner depths of the earth. These pieces of volcanic onyx almost become sculptures, providing the bedrooms with a canvass to admire the aesthetic qualities of the natural stone.

All the light of the facade, supported on the sides, creates a sense of lightness and transparency that makes Quarry House a serene location overlooking the horizon.

Ramón Esteve

All images courtesy of Ramón Esteve

PLANS

Ramón Esteve

Ramon-Esteve-Retrato_Alfonso-Calza1-1024x940 — RAMÓN ESTEVE
ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER

Founder and director of the studio, Ramón Esteve is the creative soul of the organization. Owner of a unique philosophy. His holistic vision of life leads him to face new challenges, with the aim to achieve excellence on every occasion.

Architect by the Higher Technical School of Madrid since 1990, and founder of Ramon Esteve Studio of Architecture in 1991.The studio operates both in the field of architecture and interior design, as well as operating in artistic direction and industrial design in the national and international level.

PhD Architect. Professor in the School of Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Valencia since 2005. Teaches since 2012 the area of design hotels in the Master program of interior design of the Cardenal Herrera University CEU. In addition he usually conducts workshops, and conferences in which he lectures on architecture and design.

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