Reviving Traditional Mediterranean Building Tricks, This Home Becomes a Cool Oasis

The owners of this house in Begur (Girona, Costa Brava) wanted their home to evoke the comfort and sense of space typical of local dwellings from the second half of the 20th century: The home is shaded and cool, with thick, whitewashed walls. These design concepts are not, however, merely nostalgic or retro approaches and instead they remain very popular today. “The simple though seemingly random series of volumes evokes and gives continuity to an ideal of Mediterranean design which has been highly valued and promoted in much of 20th-century modernism,” the architects note.

In the 21st century, traditional Mediterranean design is enjoying a new wave of interest, as demonstrated by decorative trends and a new emphasis on sustainability, and architects are increasingly turning to vernacular construction techniques.

The layout of the volumes creates visual interest and multiple living spaces. According to the studio, “the location, the views, the adjacencies of the different spaces, and a focus on enjoying the Mediterranean” guided the design.

This house is a prime example of a traditional Mediterranean building at its finest: with its whitewashed walls, traditional roofs, built-in furniture, and native vegetation perfectly integrated into an outdoor landscape that blends effortlessly with the interior spaces. It represents the ideal of Mediterranean design, both past and present. Or, in other words, it is exactly the home where we would like to spend an endless summer, surrounded by pine trees, stone, and the sea.

This home tour was originally published in AD Spain.