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Pure Space from Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

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Fran Silvestre Arquitectos has engineered the sublimely minimal, and deceptively spacious Casa del Atrio (atrium house) in Spain.

The architect’s brief was to create the sense of unlimited space within the urban environment of the city of Valencia.  To achieve this, the architect created an narrow L-Shaped house and sited it on the edge of the lot.

Reflected in this window is the perimeter wall at the farthest end of the piazza left open.

The L-shaped sliver runs along just two sides of its perimeter, allowing for the longest possible views across the open piazza it creates.

Along one side, a long lap pool runs the entire length of the courtyard.

The L-shape means that at the back, the bedrooms look out across an abreviated space bounded by the perimeter wall, that would be claustrophobic by itself.

But it has been designed with a full length planter along the south edge, so a row of trees are framed against the sky, give bedrooms an abundant uninterrupted space.

On the other side, the bedroom is behind a privacy wall, so a more public rest area faces the pool in the piazza.

The narrow L-shape creates rooms narrow enough for natural light to reach in from both sides.

The architects have made an unusual choice, aligning the building along the south perimeter, but in this hot climate – it means the piazza can be viewed without glare.

From the neighbours’ point of view, only an oblique sculptural white boundary wall is seen.

Filtered light from the near perimeter walled edge of the lot illuminate the extremely minimalist kitchen.

Walls have been finished in crisp white throughout. A phase-changing glass that darkens is used for privacy in rooms facing the courtyard.

In this creation of vast spaces, with sublime proportions and immaculate detailing, Fran Silvestre Aquitectos are well on their way to becoming masters of modernism.

Even the finely finished parking area boasts the most scrupulous minimalism.

Stairs to the parking connect at the central angle of the house.

The purest peaceful stairs connect the partially underground parking.

Here in a skylight lit atrium, abundant storage keeps clutter to minimum, creating the desired sense of limitless space immediately upon homecoming.