A House for Three Sisters Combines Multiple Families and Sensitive Design in Spain

Three sisters dreamed of a house where they could all live together while retaining a sense of privacy and space for their families. They found a site in southern Spain surrounded by vineyards and olive groves and tasked <a href="http://www.blancafort-reus.com/" target="_blank">Blancafort-Reus Arquitectura</a> to create just such a multi-family home. The resulting timber home was designed around the local microclimate and uses solar passive design to minimize energy use. Each family has their own living space and kitchen, but they share other amenities like a courtyard, solar panels and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/rainwater-harvesting">rainwater harvesting</a>.

A <a href="http://www.blancafort-reus.com/proyectos/vivienda/viv-para-3-hermanas-bullas-murcia/" target="_blank">House for Three Sisters</a> is essentially three homes joined together and united by shared common spaces in the center in Bullas, Spain.

Each home has great views, an upstairs master suite and its own kitchen/dining and living area, but the rest of the cottage is finished according to the needs of the family - more bedrooms, an office or extra living space.

Materials were sourced locally and techniques from the area were used in construction of the simple timber home.

The wood is all <a href="http://www.pefc.org/" target="_blank">PEFC certified</a>, which ensures that it comes from ecologically, economically and socially responsible logging.

The local microclimate is one of hot summer days with cool nights and cold winters, but receives lots of sunlight during the day.

Taking this into consideration, <a href="http://www.blancafort-reus.com/" target="_blank">Blancafort-Reus Arquitectura</a> used solar passive design to help heat the home along with concrete floors that act as thermal mass in the winters, while shading protects it in the summer.

Careful window placement allows daylight to enter the home and natural cross ventilation helps keep the interior cool.

A highly insulated envelope works in conjunction with low-e windows and outside shutters to reduce energy losses.

Solar panels integrated into the home provide additional energy and rainwater is harvested for irrigating the trees and the garden.

Site plan.

Ground floor plan.

First floor plan.

Natural ventilation and daylighting strategies.