Rambed House

Architects: Katherine Bedwell and Quim Larrea Interiors: Katherine Bedwell Photos: Rafael Vargas and Katherine Bedwell The site is located nearby a natural park 20 miles NW of Barcelona. It is a magical place, surrounded by pine trees,oaks, and holm oaks and scented by the perfume of wild bushes and flowers... The peculiarity of the natural setting, the views of the valley and the functionality that the client demanded made us think of those Californian homes designed by Richard Neutra back in the 50’s. The house with a “V” shape plan had to be horizontal, tectonic, but at the same time friendly and respectful with the forest. It had to levitate on the site in order to simulate weightlessness. The materials chosen –limestone, wood and steel – had to integrate well with the surroundings, and the color scheme was carefully studied, selecting sober and neutral tones that would blend seamlessly with the site’s natural background setting. The lot has a peninsula-shape and a slope with a Southwest orientation and a street that surrounds it, except on the north side which limits with a neighboring site. The design program for the house needed to adapt itself to a young couple with two small daughters. They required comfort, functionality and transparency; this is why we decided to design fluid spaces that had a continuous relation with the exterior of the house. Due to the characteristics of the lot, the complexity of the project was to solve and define-with architectural elements-which were the public facades and which were the private ones. We decided to make two volumes to well define the most intimate part of the woods in order to keep it, as much as possible, away from the street. Therefore, the house is placed on the highest point of the site and it is resolved with the placement of two wings that form a V-shape plan.