GardenHouse 0.89_M forms part of a collection of single-family houses designed in recent years within the garden-city areas surrounding Barcelona.
The GardenHouses project has provided an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of housing in the dispersed city. This research stems from an interest in finding alternative ways of relating the home to the garden. The aspiration of living in a house with a garden, within the garden city, cannot be reduced merely to the design of window dimensions. GardenHouses propose a housing typology conceived together with the garden itself. Above, below, beside, behind, within, alongside… in the case of GardenHouse 0.89_M, house and garden intertwine.
In this project, the garden wraps itself around the house like a scarf. The house is both protected by and bound to the perimeter of the garden. A ramp, beginning at the entrance gate to the plot, leads towards the French windows and balcony doors that provide access to the dwelling. Initially, the ramp guides the visitor towards the timber front door of the house, sheltered beneath a small canopy. Continuing along the façade, one arrives at the outdoor dining terrace, an intimate space between the house and the boundary wall of the plot, from which the kitchen may also be accessed.
The route continues, and a stepped ramp leads up to the first-floor balcony. From there, the bedrooms can be entered directly, allowing children to step straight out into the garden despite being on the upper floor — a true luxury. As the ascent continues, the landscape of the Collserola hills gradually reappears from a different perspective, with the telecommunications tower acting as a landmark orientating the viewer towards the city of Barcelona. The ramp rises further until it reaches the access balcony to the studio overlooking the landscape.
This space occupies an intermediate half-level: a small, suspended place above the living room, simultaneously inside and outside the house — a place that is at once both garden and home.
