Sumit Singhal Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.
House in Puerto de la Madera, Tenerife by Beautell architect
October 29th, 2019 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Beautell architect
The plot is located in the coastal strip of the Tacoronte Municipality, in the neighbourhood of El Pris village, in a beautiful place called Puerto de La Madera. The plot has an area of one hectare, equivalent to 10,000 sqm, which was built with a three floors high, detached house.
The original building, which was constructed in the sixties of the last century, It was three levels high, with total constructed area of 400 sqm.
The property was a holiday mansion and did not represent notable architectural values. Due to its composition and height, it constituted a visual impact over the landscape, being visible from the nearby villages of El Pris and Mesa del Mar.
Originally the building was covered with hip roof and finished with ceramic tiles. The house was poorly maintained – during various years it was partially abandoned and suffered severe damages due to the aggressive environment resulting from its proximity to the sea.
The modernization of the original house was aimed to adapt it to current needs, favour its integration into the landscape and improve its energy efficiency. The rehabilitation works maintained the original concrete structure and did not involve an increase in volume, height or surface of the old building.
Ground Floor: It was planned as diaphanous space constituting the day area of the house. The ground floor is mostly open concept. It includes the library, the toilet, the kitchen with pantry, the dining room and the living room area, which enjoys impressive views towards the Atlantic Ocean. The open space is connected trough sliding crystal doors with big terrace that offers stunning views of Teide volcano.
Upper floor: The bedrooms are located on the upper floor. The master bedroom has a private terrace, bathroom and dressing room. Two more bedrooms, with their respective bathrooms, complete the program of the private area of the house.
Basement: The basement floor, previously used as a garage, is a diaphanous space for a gym and spa.
The work consisted in the comprehensive rehabilitation of a house of the 60´s in order to adapt it to the current standards of design, functionality and comfort. Another aim of the project was to favour the landscape integration of the building, which is located in one of the most beautiful places on the north coast of the Tenerife Island.
On the architectural level, we searched for diaphanous distribution and the strengthening of the views of the house on the ocean and the Teide volcano. The original concrete structure was uncovered to show its rough presence and all the interior finishes were stripped, walls were removed, spaces were opened up and windows were enlarged and replaced, in an effort to allow light and views in.
The materials used for floors are polished or washed concrete, as well as solid wood planks in bedrooms and library. The bathrooms are all finished up with black microcement. The outside pavement was made of rough concrete. The materials of windows and doors adapt to the spaces where they are used and include aluminium, steel and wood.
The hip roof of ceramic tiles did not constitute a structural element of the building. Given its bad state and the visual impact that it produced, by increasing the height of the building, it was replaced with flat roof. The new roof was covered with a gravel of canarian basaltic stone to favour a natural material and to create environment where wild local plants can expand. This greatly reduced the visibility of the house from higher areas.
The exterior walls of the house have been thought to mimic its surroundings and reduce the visual impact of the building. To achieve this we worked with the textures and chromatic colours of the house exterior using textured grey tones and natural materials.
With the aforementioned purpose of reducing the visual impact of the original construction on the profile of the coast, it was intended to recover the pre-existing topography of the property. As a result, the view over the house was reduced by one floor height.
The exterior of the property is arranged on several different levels and concrete platforms are used to plant native plants adapted to the environment (canarian cactus – “cardones”, palms and dragon trees, called “drago”). The form of the terraces and the use of local plants, identical as those existing in the area, are strengthening the connection between the property and its closest natural environment.
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