The house Paz y Comedias, located in Puerto de Sagunto, Valencia, and built in 2010 was designed by the architect Ramón Esteve. The red Rodeno rock extracted to make space for the site was used during the project as the base material for the stone walls, a choice that ties the design of the home to the terrain on which it is built, while also merging it with the surrounding landscape.

Large, stone retaining walls accompany us on our ascent of the mountain until our arrival at the Paz y Comedias house.

These walls then become the planes that generate the principal spaces of the home, which has 1,020 square meters of floor space distributed across two large floors.

The ground floor contains a hallway, which leads inside to a kitchen and dining area, and another connecting to a series of three rooms used as a sitting room, a games room and a projection room.

On the upper floor, a hallway provides access to the house's three bedrooms. Two of these are doubles, with en-suite bathrooms, and the third, the master bedroom, has a hall, a dressing room and an en-suite bathroom.

The walls are laid out parallel to one another and perpendicular to the incline of the terrain, shaping the house’s large rooms and distribution areas.

These spaces are enclosed by floor-to-ceiling sheets of glass, which permit total transparency and visual communication with the exterior. On one side, the house flows into the views of the valley and the sea beyond.

In the master bedroom, one balcony overlooks a large open space, providing a magnificent sensation of weightlessness and a broad panoramic view of the surroundings. From the other, the view is of the enclosed, intimate exterior space located between the house and the mountain.

This exterior space links the preexisting home to the extension, and becomes an introduction to the art collection. The more private quarters of the accommodation and connection areas flow into it, offering a counterpoint to the extensive views of the valley.

The size and height of the interior spaces along with the wide glass expanses onto the exterior create the impression of an absence of boundaries between the interior and exterior spaces.

The fluid connection between the spaces encourages communication between the rooms in an effort to create continuity, which is accentuated by the architect's minimal use of materials.

With the aim of creating maximum integration with the surroundings, the red Rodeno stone extracted during site clearance will be reused for the stone walls. Thus, the accommodation remains deeply rooted in the terrain and acquires a tectonic character that fuses it to the landscape.

Meanwhile, the gray Ulldecona stone used for the large tiles is also used for the bathroom and bathtub surfaces. The laminated Iroko wood used for the external woodwork matches the Rodeno stone in the walls. Meanwhile, the white color creates unity with the interior, the walls, the furniture and the pivoting floor-to-ceiling doors creating a peaceful and fluid environment throughout the indoor spaces.

Text: Carmen Méndez

Technical Specifications for the Paz y Comedias House

Chief Architect

Ramón Esteve

Contributing architects

Paula Cabrera

Mercedes Coves

Anna Boscà

Olga Badía

Technical architects

Antonio Morales

Emilio Pérez

Building contractor

Inrem S.A.

Site manager

Francisco Gª Pellicer

Date of project

2003

Finish date

2010

Town

Puerto de Sagunto (Valencia)

Floor space

1,020 meters squared

Number of floors

Ground floor composed of: a hallway leading inside the house to a kitchen with dining area and a distribution space linked to three consecutive rooms used as a sitting room, a games room and a projection room.

First floor composed of: a distribution space providing access to 3 bedrooms, two of them double with en-suite bathrooms, and the other the master bedroom with a hallway, a dressing room and a bathroom.

Photography

Christoph Kicherer for Bulthaup

Mayte Piera

Léa Chave

Sara Sánchez

Ramón Esteve