‘X house’ by cadaval & sola-morales arquitectos, barcelona, spainimage © sara pereznietoall images courtesy of cadaval & sola-morales arquitectos

a methodological process responding to several site constraints led the ‘X house’ to its powerful shape and name. designed by spanish practice cadaval & sola-morales arquitectos, the dwelling first stemmed from the large pine tree at the top of the property, located right in the middle making an entrance into the structure quite difficult. located on the top of a steep valley in cabrils, the owners also wanted views of the ocean and mountains that were inconveniently situated on opposite sides, and still wanted to maintain some sort of privacy from the neighboring homes.the ‘X’ therefore came about as a solution to all the above problems, straddling and preserving the tree while creating an angled access into the garage; the front-facing facades made up of large windows extend views in almost all directions while the concrete shell maintains solidity onthe lateral facets of the construction for added privacy. recessed into the site, but not so much as to require excessive excavation, the house itselfis like a plinth cantilevering into the air, maintaining an almost invisible presence from the street and creating a rooftop look-out point. the program is organized over two floors, the top of which contains the garage, a studio, bathroom and master bedroom and is conceived as theowners’ private area. the lower contains the social functions in a double height light-flooded space, the kitchen and living room overlap and communicated, anchored around a central eight-meter long table. there is also a clear distinction between the the projecting side of the dwellingwhich is very obviously aimed at providing the best views in all directions; by contrast the embedded half houses the service areas and other rooms.a pool, located several meters downhill, is hidden amongst the vegetation of the site and surrounded by lush green.

view from below the siteimage © sara pereznieto

perched up in the top of a valley extending views out over barcelonaimage © sara pereznieto

bird’s eye viewimage © sara pereznieto

(left) image © iwaan ban(right) image © santiago garces

front elevationimage © sara pereznieto

image © santiago garces

entrance onto rooftop lookout pointimage © iwan baan

image © iwan baan

driveway slope into garageimage © santiago garces

view over the valleyimage © iwan baan

front balcony provides a great observation areaimages © iwan baan

kitchen and living areaimage © sara pereznieto

living roomimage © iwan baan

(left) image © iwan baan(right) image © sara pereznieto

image © iwan baan

(left) living room before furnishing(right) loft areaimages © santiago garces

kitchenimage © iwan baan

split in circulation to the other wing of the houseimage © sara pereznieto

studyimage © iwan baan

view of the second floorimage © iwan baan

bedroomimage © iwan baan

images © santiago garces

night viewimage © iwan baan

image © sara pereznieto

site plan

site plan

floor plan / level 0

floor plan / level -1

section

section

elevation

elevation

concept diagram

model

illuminated model

project info:

project: eduardo cadaval & clara solà-morales.collaborators: bruno pereira, pamela diaz de leon, daniela tramontozzi, manuel tojalbuilding engineering: joaquin pelaezstructural engineering: carles gelpi.construction company: topcret constructions.location: cabrils, barcelona, spainarea: 300 m2date: project: 2009. construction 2012