SIA Architectural Design Awards 2021 – Category: Residential Projects

Merit Award

o Al Algarrabosa, Kerry Hill Architects Pte Ltd

The residence is located in rural Andalucía in a vast landscape of rolling hills and valleys. The land is dry with scattered outcrops of limestone, swept by harsh Levante gales. Characteristic vegetation is the native olive tree and the European carob, Algarrabo in Spanish, which lends the house its name. Two old finca (farmhouse) buildings centered on a mature olive grove overlook the estate from the crest of a hill. These existing buildings and trees were integrated into the design and provided a valuable point of reference, a starting point from which to put down roots in a daunting terrain.

The organisation and architecture of the house reference the old buildings of the region with their thick white walls and courtyards; intimate refuges from the surrounding vastness. One such thick white wall, S-shaped in plan, defines two open-sided courtyards each with an L-shaped series of rooms on the perimeter. The first courtyard opens towards the renovated finca and is surrounded by bedrooms. The second court accommodates the more public areas including the kitchen, living room, dining room, and library. This court opens to panoramic views across the foreground of the dining terrace and large swimming pool.

Jury Citation:

The residence at Al Algarrabossa is an intricately detailed addition to an estate adjacent to two existing houses and an olive plantation. Clear articulation of a walled courtyard language is seen through thick perimeter walls and contrasting thin column supporting a slim roof. These design strategies allow for an impressively effortless, continuous canopy and emphasized ground hugging horizontality that renders the project memorable.