A plot with a twelve-meter elevation drop, on the north face of a hill, lacking the surface area to accommodate the proposed program, rocky terrain, a forest to be preserved and, as usual… the urge to put a poke on a pig.
Our quest to make the most of the natural features in the surroundings led us to pursue a solution that enabled the home not only to blend into the landscape, but also to reflect and multiply it.

Hence, a polyhedral geometry unfolds, coated in iridescent blue-green steel that merges with the sky and the trees, reflects the nearby pines, and rises up to let the floor slip underneath… an ironic twist to Bruno Latour’s Green regime?

The building was developed as an interface, a mediation device that opens up unavailable spaces and puts them to use.
The lower level, carved out of the hillside, was assigned to functions with less of a need for natural light, along with access to the upper level. Between this access area and the one to the plot, a shadow cast by the upper section creates a covered driveway.
The upper section, on the other hand, is a staple piercing the earth: a suspended overhang that creates an inner cavity, which in turn creates a south-facing wall that lets the breeze and the sunlight pour into the indoor spaces.

This suspended area is closed off by a roof coated with the same material as the outer walls, which envelops the entire building and enables rainwater to run freely to the ground, watering the plot’s natural shrub land vegetation.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Murcia, Quarta
Architecture project: Javier Peña Galiano – XPIRAL
Contractor: Juan Carlos López Orenes
Photograph: Juan de la Cruz Megías
Construction date: 2006
Area: 467m2
Location: Murcia. España

You wind your way down cobblestone streets to the main square of a medieval village. A fortified tower looms up before you. Loopholes. Merlons. Ashlar stonework. Facing this stronghold, you would never imagine the world hidden away behind its great wooden doors.

You enter. Little has changed in the appearance of the 13th century granaries and stables, although their corners now conceal the technical equipment required for 21st-century comforts. On the right in the porticoed courtyard, a wide stone staircase leads you to the middle level, the most private area in the residence. A 100 square meter floor–with the same footprint as the entire tower–houses the bedrooms, the study, and the library under strikingly tall ceilings, protected behind one-and-a-half-meter thick walls.

Onward you go, up the next flight of stairs, to the top level. A clear sky is cut out against the outline of the surrounding rooftops, pouring light through the 28 windows that follow the tower’s perimeter, once the crenels on the battlement. The renovation that added a hip roof supported by oak beams and covered with Arab tiles is well over a century old by now. Along with the exposed stone walls, the thick wooden roof frame and the walnut flooring create an extraordinarily warm atmosphere, where the living and dining areas extend seamlessly into the bulthaup kitchen.

Interior designer Helena Lind, together with architect José Luis Blanco and with the support of bulthaup Madrid, Galera, has achieved an apt contrast by introducing a large bulthaup b3 peninsula attached to the wall, finished in black linoleum and natural aluminum, under a stainless steel worktop. The mid wall panel protects the stone walls up to the height of the windowsills. Opening up to the large, open living and dining area, the outer side of the peninsula provides easy access to crockery and other everyday use items. The clean lines of the kitchen design, utterly self-assured in their coherence, have no need to upstage the imposing distinction of their context.

Some projects are vividly etched in our memories. The conjunction of the voices of centuries ago with the timeless simplicity of this bulthaup b3 kitchen has created a space that is not easily forgotten.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Madrid, Galera

Interior designer: Helena Lind

Architecture project: José Luis Blanco

Photographs : Luís Mínguez Ambrós

Construction date:: Siglo XII

Reform date: Mayo de 2012

Area: 500 mts2

Location: Cantabria. España

From the ground, we raise our eyes and follow the curving ramps that wind their way up through the terrain between the orchard and the pool. The ramps turn into roofs and floors, lifting a space that is a house today but could easily become a studio or an art gallery tomorrow.

Inside, in the middle of the large open space that reaches out towards the landscape, we find an anchor: a white bulthaup kitchen standing out against the uneven grey of the exposed concrete behind it. A pristine anchor, as multifunctional as the space it inhabits. White on the laminated units, white on the identical worktop. A flat stainless steel extractor hood merges with the concrete wall. The cooking, water, and preparation areas extend seamlessly into a bar top, following the curvature of the back wall. It continues all the way to the central, open space, basking in the light the streams in from the picture windows: an overlook onto a private garden, right below; further out, in the distance, the glimmering sea.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Alicante, Quarta
Architecture project: noname 29 (Alfredo Payá Benedito)
Photograph: David Frutos
Construction date: 2006
Area: 240m2
Location: San Vicente, Alicante. Spain

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Girona
Area: 600m2
Location: Frespech, France

This is where Son Grua Nou stands, a house in which architect Joan Riusech succeeded in combining the understated exterior of a traditional Mallorcan house with the open indoor spaces of a modern dwelling. Hence, although from the outside the house is dominated by the rather rugged sobriety of roughhewn stone, on the inside we find pure lines that are emphasized by the spotless white of the walls and ceilings. This minimalist atmosphere is further reinforced by the natural light beaming into the space, highlighting an eclectic decorative style and works of art selected from the Joan Melià gallery.

From the entrance hall, through a white sliding door, we reach a living room with large windows, and, next to it and without any further transition, a magnificent bulthaup kitchen. In the kitchen, white prevails again, in keeping with the rest of the house; however, here contrasts are achieved with the use of stainless steel for the ovens, the extractor hood, and the plinth panels, and by the warmth of a thick slab of walnut extending from one end of the cooking island. The windows running along all three sides of this space frame the landscape like hyperrealist paintings, inviting us to bask in contemplation of the world outside, while aromatic dishes are prepared in the midst of a lively conversation among good friends.

The second floor houses the bedrooms and a wonderful covered terrace offering the rough, untamed allure of the Mallorcan mountain range.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Mallorca, Nicolau
Architecture project: Joan Riusech
Photographs: Toni Font
Reform date: 2013
Area: 568m2
Location: Mallorca, Spain.

Puntas de Calnegre, Murcia. A protected area whose cliffs and coves shape a ragged coastline. A barren landscape where the wind blowing in from the south reminds us that Africa is not far.

On the edge of this nature reserve, a white and grey vantage point juts out from a rocky hill covered in cacti. In a community whose people are still bound to the earth and to the sea, making the most of both its potential and its limitations, we encounter a bold interplay of volumes that happens to merge surprisingly well with its surroundings. A space whose apparent austerity springs to life with the small and great daily pleasures of its inhabitants: a couple, with the sea and a life ahead of them, who love to surf and to fish. A setting that invites one to retreat, but also to bring a handful of good friends together.

The four floors in the house share a central element: a staircase, hand built with 10mm sheet metal, and a HEB 220 beam, both made of stainable steel, that takes off from the basement and head upwards, connecting the different levels all the way to the roof deck. The garage and storeroom in the bottom level house the couple’s vehicles: a car, boats, and windsurf boards. The ground floor encloses the least exposed, most private area in the building, including the bedrooms, the laundry room, and the main hallway. If we keep on heading upward, we suddenly stop dead in our tracks. The view spans the entire arc of the bay. The heart of the home opens out to the sea, to the outlines of the hills, breaking the barriers between outside and in. The open space that contains the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room extends seamlessly out to the terraces.

We keep on going up the stairs: on the roof, from the sun deck, we witness a stunning uninterrupted panorama of those same hills, of that same sea.

We return to the central space in the house. The rough-hewn, somewhat industrial character of the exposed materials on the walls and ceilings is appeased by the views pouring in the picture windows, tamed by the persuasive elegance of the centerpiece: an immense bulthaup island.

The owners were well aware of the role they were attributing to a kitchen that was so exposed, acknowledging the need for its being endowed with exceptional character and quality. bulthaup b3 system units with white laminate fronts were installed with an oven that allowed for baking the largest catch of the day; the work area was conceived as a space to be shared with close friends.

At Puntas del Calnegre, people don’t fence in their land. They have a different sense of boundaries. A good harvest, a great day out fishing: reason enough to gather and celebrate.

In an environment where the perfection of simplicity prevails, bulthaup sets the perfect stage for sharing everyday pleasures.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Murcia, Quarta
Architecture project: Javier Peña Galiano – XPIRAL
Contractor: Juan Cañavate Llopis
Assistant architects: Jesús Galera, Pablo García
Photographs: David Frutos
Construction date: 2007
Area: 450m2
Location: Lorca, Murcia, Spain.

Restoring a 14th-century building and turning it into a unique contemporary apartment calls for weighty judgment calls, a heightened awareness of what deserves to remain. This savoir-faire was the spirit that moved the owners, architects, and designers at Can Caurelles.

The owners wanted a home in which the moments and gestures in their everyday lives could coexist with a strong presence of art in all its forms.

In this versatile home, you wander through rooms and spaces between paintings and sculptures that in certain instances act as frames and in others are the main object of your attention.

The kitchen had to pass unnoticed without losing any of its functionality. Adjoining the living room, it had to “vanish” when not in use, extending the space left for peace and quiet. A 32m2 section of the main floor was assigned for this space, the best-lit area within the entire residence. And, in fact, light is of the utmost importance to the owners, passionate collectors who viewed the kitchen as a living space where they could place their works of art.

That was their reason for choosing bulthaup. A sleek white b3 system appears to merge with the luminous space, and a sculptural cooking island provides an understated division in the room.

The kitchen opens up directly to the living room, which becomes more spacious, well proportioned, and elegant. To heighten this effect, the design team decided not to use tall units so as not to distract the viewer from the works of art on display.

While they sip a glass of wine or cook dinner with their friends, the owners enjoy the feeling of being in a warm, enveloping space, surrounded by art.

This magnificent project was orchestrated by multifaceted architect and interior designer Luis Laplace, who employed a team of specialized craftsmen to adapt as many of the original materials and accessories as possible to contemporary use.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Mallorca, Groc i Blau
Architecture Project: Luis Laplace
Photographs: Matthias Soeder
Construction date: 2008
Area: 600m2
Location: Palma de Mallorca. España

Tucked away between century-old pine trees in mount Abantos, in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, stands Levene House, designed by architect Eduardo Arroyo in collaboration with Francesco Monaco, Javier Tamer, and Cristina Fidalgo, and owned by another architect, Richard Levene.

According to Arroyo, Levene House is an “anti-forest”: its three wings, gripping the ground like huge claws, weave among the trees, probing the empty spaces between them. The aim was to have the least possible impact on the forest (only seven trees were cut down, all of which were sick) while also merging into it like another living creature.

The uneven terrain contributed to defining the heights: despite its solidity, the house appears to be floating. The profusion of trees led to an imaginative solution, anchoring the structure on minipiles that pierce the ground without stopping the currents of water that feed the vegetation or blocking the surrounding trees’ root systems. The three wings distribute the building’s weight in the manner of buttresses. The exterior was covered with slate, in compliance with local building regulations—specifically with Mongolian basalt.

The outer shell alternates glass—picture windows that bring the woods indoors, like panels of forest life—with stone, according to the distance from the trees, their shade, their volumes, and the type of room.

Life and pleasure

The interior has been conceived as an interplay between different volumes, ranging from greater to lesser height, with the latter housing the spaces that called for more privacy. A large part of the upper level is the area for leisure; on the epoxy-resin coated walls, shades of yellow prevail. As you step down to the lower level, the tones shift to blue for the daytime (kitchen and living room) and nighttime areas (bedrooms), which face a covered terrace. The lower end of the living room leads to a heated indoor pool and a space that binds the daytime kitchen and dining areas together.

The entire bulthaup b3 kitchen is finished in stainless steel surfaces, everything from the cabinets to the walls and countertops, enclosed in a second skin. The lighting runs along the walls, with no suspended fixtures. The picture window looking onto the garden merges this original space with the forest and fills it with boundless natural light.

The forcefulness of the house’s design is also apparent on the inside. Its architecture is also interior design, even though the indoor surfaces are softer, with shades of orange and blue that blend in with the furniture, lighting, and other built-in elements. The result is a clean, almost bare space, where everything seems possible and where nothing more is needed than the forest that surrounds it and decorates it through the glass walls.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Madrid, Galera
Architecture Project: Eduardo Arroyo (No.mad Arquitectos), in collaboration with Francesco Monaco, Javier Tamer, and Cristina Fidalgo.
Contractor: Santamaría-Ayuso
Construction date 2002-2006
Area: 400 m2
Location: Monte Abantos, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid.

R House is a radical, unique venture that explores the limits of continuous, versatile space without overlooking the specific and affective elements. Built in 2009 amidst terraced orange groves overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, this weekend home quickly claimed its right to become the owner’s year-round residence.

Architect Arturo Frediani believed that for the contemporary to become timeless, it had to be an effective vehicle for human emotions. R House is an in-depth formal exploration of what is essential and what is expendable in our current value system.

R is a building in which the different expressions of culture–literature, cuisine, art–actually make up the structure of the walls that separate the interior from an outside world which can appear hostile at times. A house made to the measure of man, using ingenious building systems and natural, recyclable materials. Northern wood, recycled steel, and staggering picture windows that draw in the landscape set the stage for life itself. 

The central hub

The project follows the logic of trees, branching into two wings that reach out to the sides and upward, with spaces set at different heights. The right wing houses private spaces, whereas the left contains the common areas, presided over by the library, the kitchen, and the fireplace.

These three elements and even the dining room table emerge directly from the wall. In turn, the wall actually springs to life, filling up with books to become a library with vertical glass panels set between its bookcases.

The kitchen is the home’s central hub (in addition to the courtyard) from which one gains full awareness of a space as rich as it is complex. The dining room table becomes an efficient connection between the kitchen and the living room.

The conditions were exceptional for exploring the full potential of the bulthaup b3 system. The white laminate surfaces with laser-welded edges, complemented with a compact seamless counter, reveal a technical perfection and an exquisite taste that create a contrast with the matte white painted wooden interior fittings. The wall-mounted bulthaup b3 oak wood bench faces a bulthaup c3 table with Wegner chairs set on an industrial flooring, also made of solid oak.

Spaces that are open, but as dynamic and versatile as the landscape itself. The bold architecture in this project called for a new way of building whose philosophy and values were fully aligned with those of bulthaup.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Reus 
Architecture Project: Arturo Frediani
Photography: Eugeni Pons y Rudolf Schmutz 
Construction Date: 2009.
Area: 255 m2
Location: Cataluña, España.


Sharing the kitchen

The central hub in the kitchen is a large black granite island, equipped with an induction cooktop, a teppanyaki, and a bar area with stools. The units are suspended from a bulthaup b3 panel wall, featuring grey aluminum fronts and natural aluminum edges. The functional boxes for the water point and the spice jars combined with a lacquered white glass cutting board complete the ensemble.

The result is a modern but completely functional atmosphere that draws people together to share their best moments. That was one of the requirements initially stated by the owners, who love “sharing the kitchen” with their children and friends. They wanted a space that was conducive to cooking and enjoying every moment in the process.

From the very beginning, the central area of the house was reserved for the kitchen, the heart of the home. The owners found bulthaup b3 to be the perfect vehicle for voicing their approach, and the bulthaup Greek interior designers worked jointly with the architect to adapt it to the available space.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup en Barcelona, Greek 
Architecture Project: Isidre Costa
Photography: Albert Font
Stylists: Mar Requena para Casa Viva 
Construction Date: 2011
Area: 340m2
Location: Puigcerdà, Cataluña, España.