Last edited 24 Oct 2016

TR House, Barcelona

In 2016, the architectural practice PMMT completed TR House in Barcelona, Spain. The unique chequerboard screen of glazed ceramic tiles that wraps around the house was designed with the intention of blending in with the surrounding gardens.

The gardens surround an existing 19th-century house that belonged to the parents of the client. This meant that the architects were faced with the challenge of integrating a new house into the landscape without obstructing the views from the existing house.

The steepness of the site required that the volume of the house was split, so that the three-storey building is partially submerged in the descending ground, and so that access could be provided by entrances on different levels.

Vertical chestnut boards clad the majority of the front and rear facades, with glazed openings that are positioned carefully so as to reveal views but maintain the inhabitants’ privacy.

The other facades are wrapped in a semi-solid surface, cascading down from the pergola on the upper floor terrace. This green surface is composed of vitrified ceramic tiles fixed to a stainless steel wire lattice. This innovative tile technique has been patented as Fabrik by the manufacturers Shildan Group. For more information, see Fabrik by Shildan.

The centre of the building contains an open-air patio, lined with glazing to enable natural light to permeate the surrounding rooms. At the rear of the building, the main living areas open onto a secluded area of decking.