Arquitectura G organises minimalist Patio House around courtyard in Spain

House around courtyard. A brief context to set expectations.

House around courtyard: Quick notes

Spanish studio Arquitectura-G has completed Patio House, a minimalist white home in Costa Brava that opens onto a central courtyard through folding timber shutters.

Partially sunken into a sloping site overlooking the small bay of Aiguablava, the single-storey home was designed by Arquitectura-G to have a “simple and clear” geometry, defined by a slim concrete roof perched on slender columns.

Arquitectura-G has completed a minimalist home in Costa Brava

While Patio House’s external perimeter negotiates the uneven terrain with subterranean levels, retaining walls and steps, at its centre is a level 15-by-15-metre courtyard wrapped by openable timber shutters.

“The main idea was to create the largest possible courtyard that the plot would allow and to orient the entire program of the house around it,” the studio told Dezeen.

Patio House is partially sunken into a sloping site

“It adapts to the terrain so that at its upper end it almost disappears, with the roof sitting just 1.1 meters above ground level, while at the lower end the house sits flush with the terrain,” added Arquitectura-G.

“This contrast creates non-parallel interior spaces that enrich the spatial experience and further emphasise the geometry of the courtyard.”

It is organised across two L-shaped wings

Patio House’s ring-shaped plan is formed by two L-shaped wings – one containing the bedrooms, and the other the home’s living, kitchen and dining spaces.

The more enclosed family and guest bedrooms are connected by a circulation corridor that expands to form the kitchen, dining and living spaces, described by the studio as spaces “where interior and exterior merge without hierarchy”.

A square courtyard sits at the centre of the home

Full-height wooden shutters enable the living areas to be completely opened not only to the central courtyard but also to an additional sunken yard, creating the feeling of a covered walkway sheltered beneath the concrete roof.

A small circular staircase in one corner connects the home’s main level with both a small basement below and the roof above, which doubles as an additional external terrace.

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“A continuous circulation band becomes a variable-width porch that connects all spaces and gradually transforms into living areas such as the kitchen or lounge,” the studio said. “The interior is always in relation to the courtyard.”

Patio House’s concrete roof, columns and floor have all been left exposed internally, creating minimal spaces defined by focal points such as travertine-topped counters in the kitchen and a freestanding black-metal fireplace in the living area.

A black-metal fireplace features in the living area

The palette of white concrete and aluminium is softened by the introduction of sliding wooden doors to the bedrooms and folding wooden shutters, which Arquitectura-G chose as a nod to the region’s vernacular architecture.

“Only four materials are used throughout the house,” said the studio. “Concrete, aluminium for the windows, wood for shutters, doors, and furniture, and travertine for kitchen and bathroom surfaces.”

Wood visually softens the exposed concrete walls

Previous homes designed by Arquitectura-G include a duplex apartment in Barcelona finished in sunny shades of yellow and a home inserted within the walls of a stone ruin in the medieval village of Palau-Sator.

The photography is by Maxime Delvaux.

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