As a starting point, the Oval Estudio team chose to discover the different stages of growth of the original house through a process of "archaeology," through which the stone party walls were uncovered.
In line with an intense search to enhance natural light, a vertical void was created to house the stairs and allow communication between the different floors. This vertical space becomes the interior focal point of the home. The resulting central space allows sunlight to enter from all directions. The project ensures that both natural light and the intersecting diagonal views are essential and present in every corner of Casa Periscopio. History and visual openness redefine the experience of living.
Periscope House by Oval Estudio. Photograph by Lluís Bort.
Project description by Oval Estudio
A house in the historic centre of Montuïri (Mallorca) with low value in the market, a unique condition in the layout of the plot and desired views behind the neighbours. These are the initial points of this project.
The plot with 5 meters of frontage on the north side, including the existing stone walls. The slope of the land is 4 meters between the front of the plot and its rear. This plot is compressed between a 12m high party wall to the south and a 10m facade to the north.
The existing house consists in ground floor +1, with a storage room and terrace on the roof, is in poor condition, with problems of humidity, ventilation and illumination. An initial process of “archaeology” is carried out in which the stone walls and the facade are left uncovered to tell us about the different phases of growth of the original house. It was decided to maintain and enhance these elements, making the materiality of the house and its process and evolution the main element of the project.
The next step is the obsession with light, we proceed to demolish the floor slabs, creating a central volume in the house where the stairs are located and that connects all floors, creating a visual diagonal that allows direct sunlight to enter all floors. This space dedicated to light changes the proportions of the space, and gives the house a quality in cubic meters and crossed views that make it unique.
The existing stone wall is extended with a new structural wall made of exposed thermo-clay blocks, creating a 14-meter-high exposed wall that accompanies the entry of light and vertical movement.
On the second floor, we can appreciate the change of materials of the walls, going from stone to clay; the large volume emptied all the way to the ground floor, the irregularity of the existing slabs and the spiralling growth of the stairs give a special spatial movement to this area of visual communication.
On the top floor is the room of light, on the south side, looking over the courtyard, we have the neighbour’s wall covered with vegetation and the sun as protagonist, bathing the interior walls. On the north side, the non-existent wall, the views, the sunsets and the feeling of space. A living room facing outward, framed by the structural walls of the house, a wooden roof and polished concrete floor, simplicity of materials to emphasize the strength of this space.
The periscope house, a vertical expansion with spatial communication as basis and a simple materiality as a frame. The result is a unique house, where diagonal views are key and where light and views are present in every area.
