simplicity love: House on the Cliff, Spain | Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

House on the Cliff is one of the latest projects of Valencia based Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, located in an outstanding location in Toix Mascarat, Calpe, Alicante in Spain.

The minimalist building is dramatically set on an existing steep cliff side, capturing spectacular sea views with minimum intervention to the original topography.

The all white, monolithic volume stretches out to the mediterranean sea with a balcony that stands on the air. A swimming pool is placed on a lower level, reached via an abstract, sculptural staircase. Interior design is by Alfaro Hofmann.

Photography © Diego Opazo

Description from Fran Silvestre Arquitectos:

We like the virtue of architecture which makes possible constructing a house on air, walking on water…
An abrupt plot of land overlooking the sea, where what is best is to do nothing. It invites to stay.
A piece that respects the land’s natural contour is set in it.
Above, a shadow, the house itself, looking calmly at the Mediterranean.
Under the sun, the swimming-pool brings us closer to the sea, it becomes a quiet cove.
In the inflection point, the stairway proposes a evocative path, a garden in the basement…
Due to the steepness of the plot and the desire to contain the house in just one level, a three-dimensional structure of reinforced concrete slabs and screens adapting to the plot’s topography was chosen, thus minimising the earthwork.
This monolithic, stone-anchored structure generates a horizontal platform from the accessing level, where the house itself is located.
The swimming-pool is placed on a lower level, on an already flat area of the site.
The concrete structure is insulated from the outside and then covered by a flexible and smooth white lime stucco.
The rest of materials, walls, pavements, the gravel on the roof… all maintain the same colour, respecting the traditional architecture of the area, emphasising it and simultaneously underlining the unity of the house.