Frumales is a small village located in a pine valley in Segovia, Spain. Frumales’ beautiful city center is surrounded by farmlands and stone-made country-houses. The site results from the aggregation of three lots containing masonry-ruined buildings.The ruins are inhabited through a design that embraces the place and the value of the old material. It sets this as a starting point. Reusing the material, understanding old local construction techniques and choosing the right structural system leads to the final solution.
Through a structural concrete frame, the livable plane is elevated above the terrain. This structural frame sets the master line from which a light self-standing wood structure defines the light roofing. This wood frame structure is carefully designed, cut and set in place in order to define the geometry, volume and materiality of the space. The multilayered stone façade surrounds the building providing an excellent insulation and thermal inertia. The ceiling height and the location of the openings provides either cross-ventilation or chimney effect when requested..
The interior is designed as an open, flexible space filled with the program. Aside the street, the functional program is set, towards the patio the private spaces are located. The room’s height is limited by the use of the ‘sobrado segoviano’ The windows are carefully set to capture views and light, allowing multiple cross-views. The spatial sequence provided by the patio, terrace and garden interlaces interior and exterior through a series of intermediate spaces that provide cross-views, transparencies and reflections. Text description by the architects.
