Costa ballena (Cádiz), Spain

The Junipers

(Residential) (Residential)
2024

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Sustainable architecture in dialogue with the landscape

An analysis of the existing or developing residential complexes in the area highlights the typological heterogeneity of the surroundings. Urban planning requires that buildings should not exceed a linear length of 75 metres. This condition has been exploited to the maximum in most recent developments, generating extensive complexes articulated by large blocks.

In contrast, our aim in this competition is to offer a residential product. new and clearly differentiatedwhere the scale makes a difference. We know that current developments tend to be organised in large blocks which, although efficient, generate visual barriers and fragment the relationship between architecture and landscape. The alternative we propose is for a better integration between nature and architectureThe building mass is broken down into smaller, more dispersed units.

Our strategy redefines the minimum building unit under a system of "villas" immersed in a coastal forest. In this layout, there is no dominant central space, but a network of volumes that dialogue with each other and with their surroundings, generating a new way of living. The result is a residential complex in which the built and the natural intertwine, and where spatial fluidity replaces compositional rigidity.

We take as a reference the classical definition of a villa: a house with a garden in the countryside, isolated from other houses and used for relaxation.. From this idea, we have developed a proposal based on a matrix of plots that allows to formalising clustered villages in a rational and sustainable manner. Each villa contains 9 dwellingsorganised in three floorswith a built-up area of 22,9 m x unit.

The concept "Villas" allows for the creation of a unique, low-density residential product, in line with the new ways of life that combine ecology, wellbeing and privacy. An environment in which architecture and nature not only coexist, but also mutually enhance each other.

Project

The Junipers

Location

Calle Mozart, 4, Costa Ballena

Customer

Acciona Real Estate

Year

2024

State

Under construction (1st prize in a restricted competition).

Programme

Residential

Partners

Engineering companies: ARGENIA for structures and for installations

Landscaping: Nomad Garden

Villas that do not occupy the landscape: they inhabit it.

The project departs from the traditional model of residential blocks and proposes a new way of living: a collection of low-density villas, dispersed in a continuous natural environment. The architecture no longer imposes itself on the landscape, but adapts to it, fragmenting itself to generate a friendlier, more human and connected scale.

The proposal reinterprets the classical villa not as an isolated object, but as an integrated part of a contemporary architectural ecosystem.

Each villa is understood as a self-sufficient cell within an organic system. An intelligent grouping strategy makes it possible to generate 9 dwellings per unit, ordered rationally but without rigidity. Nature is inserted between the volumes and defines intermediate spaces that promote community life without losing privacy.

A coastal forest as a base plane, and architecture as a precise echo.

The result is a contemporary residential complex that reinterprets the archetype of the classic villa, not as an isolated object, but as part of an architectural ecosystem. A project that understands luxury as a balance between space, landscape and silence.