SIGLA Studio Designs a Flexible Brick Residence in Spain
SIGLA Studio has completed the Patio House in Cardedeu, Spain, a single-family home that approaches time as both a material and a guiding principle. Designed for a young couple with two children transitioning from a small, segmented apartment, the house provides abundant natural light, a strong connection to the outdoors, and the flexibility to adapt as family needs change. Sited almost entirely within the confines of a long, narrow plot, the house establishes a secure brick enclosure around two internal courtyards—referred to by the architects as ‘lungs’. This spatial strategy ensures privacy, cross-ventilation, and a calm, gradual interaction with daylight for the residents.
The current layout situates the parents’ suite on the upper floor, with interconnected bedrooms for the children. However, the design allows for the arrangement to be reversed as the family’s requirements evolve over time: the ground floor could serve as the primary sleeping area, and the upper rooms can be joined or separated without the need for structural alterations—only a change in how the spaces are used.
all images by Marta Vidal
Patios as Lungs: Breathing Light and Fresh Air Into a Compact Site
The concept of designing for longevity was central to SIGLA Studio’s approach from the beginning. Influenced by their lasting impression of the Georg Kolbe Museum House in Berlin—a place whose relevance has endured nearly a century due to the quiet harmony between its architecture and garden—the Barcelona-based architects sought to create a home meant to be lived in, aged with, and reinterpreted by future generations. This philosophy is echoed in Cardedeu, with references to Alvar Aalto’s Muuratsalo house, where brickwork creates boundaries that simultaneously protect and mediate the relationship with the surrounding nature.
Faced with the constraints of a compact site, SIGLA Studio maximized the ground floor footprint, observing required setbacks but shaping an inward-focused living environment. The home’s two patios—one at the entrance and another by the pool—serve as its ‘lungs’, channeling daylight and fresh air throughout every space. Around these courtyards, the architects arranged essential daily areas, including an entry hall, kitchen, dining and living rooms, a full bathroom, laundry, garage, and a flexible multipurpose space. Upstairs, two spacious rooms can be subdivided into four, while a central landing offers a versatile spot for studying, reading, or playing.
SIGLA Studio’s Patio House in Cardedeu, Spain
Materials Curated to Reveal the Changing Day
Patio House is defined by its handmade brickwork, crafted at Forn d’Obra Duran, one of the few remaining artisanal kilns in Catalonia. Each brick, individually shaped from natural clay, is slow-dried and fired with wood, resulting in subtle variations that lend character to the walls, pavements, sills, and copings. The brick not only forms the structure and envelope, but also the flooring, reinforcing the project’s commitment to enduring materials and environmental harmony. The interior palette is carefully selected: microcement floors on the ground level, natural parquet upstairs, chestnut wood for built-in furnishings, exposed ceramic vaults on the ceilings, and glazed tiles in the bathrooms. Light is treated as a fundamental design element, with sunlight entering the house from morning to evening, keeping residents attuned to the passage of time, shifting shadows, and the changing qualities of daylight throughout the year.
this single-family home treats time as material and method
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