A brutalist house in Spain embraces its wild and tangled plot

Bojaus Arquitectura’s new brutalist house project acts as a brutalist frame for its untamed site. Located at the edge of a tract of new suburban homes in Valdemorillo, west of Madrid, House X has been carefully inserted within the existing wild landscape, incorporating and exploiting views of the mature trees and monumental boulders that scatter the plot.

Step inside this brutalist house in the Spanish countryside

Ignacio Senra and Elisa Sequeros of the Madrid-based studio, working with Jorge Gabaldón and Javier Luque, describe the project as an exercise in creating permanence. ‘Rather than delicately resting into the landscape, pretending that it could be easily dismantled in the future, House X embraces its invasive, almost parasitic nature,’ they say, adding that the house ‘fully integrates into the environment, aiming, through its abstract design and materiality, to become an inseparable part of the landscape.’

The defining features of the plot were the gradient and a series of huge granite boulders, including one right at the boundary with the road. Towering over the undergrowth was a mature oak tree, with smaller holm oaks scattered around the site in amongst the rocks.

One glance at the site plan is enough to realise why the house bears such a succinct and singular name; the floorplan is neatly arranged like a cross, with two intersecting ground floor elements, topped by two ensuite bedrooms arranged like fortifications atop the end of each ‘arm’. In total, the house covers a modest 190 sq m.

The castle analogy is a fitting one, because the architects cite the fortress structures that rise up from the Castilian plateau as inspiration, as well as the stacked vernacular houses that make up the hilltop Portuguese village of Monsanto.

In terms of materials, House X also commits fully to its site. The half-metre thick concrete walls were formed on site using local aggregates, then built up by hand in 60cm high layers, with insulation sandwiched within. The result is something monolithic and enduring, sustainable by virtue of its clear and lasting permanence. ‘The house is built to endure for generations, deeply anchored in the landscape, much like the granite boulders and trees that surround it,’ the architects say.

Apart from the hefty boulders, the natural state of the site ensures those surroundings will be constantly change, as trees mature and twist, and new vegetation emerges to re-shape the contours of the plot. To celebrate this, House X features vast windows that punctuate its fortress-like walls, each framing a picture-perfect vista, from the old oak tree to the cluster of rocks that appear like they’ve congregated just outside the house, wanting to be let in.

Interior finishes are understandably simple to match the universality of the concrete walls. The external covered terrace and the bathrooms feature limestone tiles, while oak – naturally – is used throughout everywhere else. It is contrasted with the weighty, darker grain of walnut, used for interior doors and cabinetry.

Bojaus Arquitectura was established by Sequeros and Senra in 2012. Based in Madrid, the two principals combine their architectural practice with research and teaching – Senra is an associate professor in the Architectural Projects Department at ETSAM, Polytechnic University of Madrid. Through long-lasting, durable local materials and a commitment to simplicity of form and construction, Bojaus believes in the sustainability of longevity, creating a house that will hopefully endure for many centuries.

Bojaus.com