Threshold House

Detached house · El Albujón, Cartagena

A detached house where the rules only allowed apartment blocks. The house itself becomes the boundary between the street and private life.

The client is a farmer and wanted a detached house. The problem was that, in that area, the planning rules only allowed multi-unit housing. To make it possible we had to set the house back and attach it to the party wall through a series of pergolas and volumes that met what the local plan required.

The idea was always the same. The house itself sits in the middle and cuts the line of sight between the public and private areas. Even the fencing changes: denser on the private side, lower and more open towards the street. That saves on the build, and the house shows itself to the street without closing itself off.

The owners wanted a bit of everything. Traditional in some ways, modern in others. A pitched roof was non-negotiable for them, so we combined it with a cleaner, more minimal language everywhere else.

Inside, the living and sleeping areas are clearly separated. The pool connects straight onto the living room and kitchen, so the front and back of the house work as a single space for relaxing. The porch on the south façade casts interesting shadows and protects from the sun, which in Cartagena is no small matter.