Los Olivos House

The plot sits at the edge of Quesa, a small town in the interior of Valencia province. Beyond the boundary, an olive grove extends across the terrain. The house is organised around this grove — not as a view to be captured, but as the material from which the project is made.

Four elements in section

The plan is single-storey and develops along a longitudinal axis aligned to the south. Four spatial elements define the section and the relationship to the outside. A deep verandah runs the full length of the south facade, protecting the main rooms from the western sun and establishing the primary transition between inside and outside. Three courtyards — each with a different character — bring the grove and the sky into the bedroom wing, where privacy demands a more enclosed condition. A continuous glass opening, 18 metres long, faces the grove from the day space; the steel frame structure makes this span possible without intermediate support. A pool platform extends outward from the verandah into the trees, following the longitudinal axis of the house into the landscape.

The structure is galvanised steel, working on a light-frame logic that allows both the long clear spans and rapid, precise construction. The building fulfils Passive House standards — insulation, thermal mass, controlled ventilation — achieved through the building envelope rather than mechanical compensation.

The material palette is grounded in the landscape’s own tones: terracotta on floors and facade surfaces, olive green joinery, Iranian travertine and brass in the wet areas. The grove is everywhere — in the shadows it casts through the glass, in the colours of the walls, in the fact that the outdoor pool extends into its canopy.