Mirasol House

White wall and high window in Mirasol House with diffuse light

On a traditional street in El Cabañal, Mirasol House recovers a former fisherman's dwelling between party walls. Its restored façade, delicately detached from the symmetrical construction, incorporates on the ground floor a plinth, a lattice screen and a granite letterbox, together with the limestone steps that anticipate the upward route through the house.

Restored façade of Mirasol House on a traditional street in El Cabañal, Valencia
  • Ground floor of Mirasol House with the kitchen and the multi-storey void above the living space
  • Bright living space in Mirasol House with a large window and a sculptural piece in the foreground
Limestone stair and ground-floor living space of Mirasol House, with a person seated
Entrance to Mirasol House with a timber door, lattice screen and granite letterbox
Sectional axonometric drawing of Mirasol House

The narrow, deep plot is organised around a three-storey void. From the ground-floor living space, this void runs through the house up to the mirasol, a skylit volume that rises above the neighbourhood's roofs and towards which all rooms and routes are oriented.

  • Room in Mirasol House with a wide window and diffuse light on white walls
  • Sloping skylight of the mirasol seen from inside Mirasol House
  • Limestone stair of Mirasol House rising towards the light
  • Oak panelling, stone bench and niche in Mirasol House
Kitchen and continuous ground-floor space of Mirasol House, with a stone worktop and timber chair
Corner of Mirasol House at dusk with a warm-lit lamp
Animation of the Mirasol House elevation

A warm-toned limestone folds to become floor, stair, worktop and continuous bench, giving the interior an almost monolithic unity. White surfaces, oak and small stone niches complete a restrained materiality, conceived to receive the light.

Window recess with a stone bench beside oak panelling in Mirasol House
White rear façade of Mirasol House overlooking the courtyard
  • Recessed window with an oak frame and stone ledge in Mirasol House
  • Stair in Mirasol House in half-light with light from the side
High window above white walls in Mirasol House

The mirasol holds the Mediterranean light and distributes it through the day, from the crisp shadows of the morning to the tempered tones of the evening. Beside the rear courtyard it also acts as a natural ventilation shaft, and at nightfall it becomes a lantern above the rooftops of El Cabañal.

Animation of the Mirasol House section
Granite lattice screen of Mirasol House seen from the entrance
Straight stone stair in Mirasol House
  • Upper-floor landing of Mirasol House with a solid balustrade and an oak door
  • Stone bench and chair beneath the overhead light of Mirasol House
Lamp on a bench in Mirasol House at dusk
Aerial view down the void of Mirasol House to a chair on the ground floor

(Photo)

David Zarzoso

(Press)

Leibal, Mirasol house
Spanish Architects, Casa Mirasol por Iterare arquitectos
Neo2, Casa Mirasol, el sutil resplandor de Iterare arquitectos
Domus, In Spain, a renovated fisherman’s house welcomes natural light
AD Spain, Una casa del Cabanyal capaz de captar la luz (de la Valencia contemporánea)