Nested House

Casa Nido emerges from a tense yet respectful dialogue with the memory of the existing walls. The house does not seek to impose itself on the original masonry but to inhabit it anew from within: a new container inserted between the old party walls to shape a contemporary refuge, sheltered by the historic mass that surrounds it.

View of Casa Nido from the street corner, with the lime-rendered volume above the old party walls

Vertical stone slats on the Casa Nido façade beside the brick wall

Exposed brick façade of Casa Nido with its original openings

Casa Nido seen from the street, with the original façade and the new volume behind it

Animation of the Casa Nido façade in Torrefiel, Valencia

Courtyard of Casa Nido seen from the double-height living space, with light entering through the large windows

Towards the interior of the plot, the house opens onto a courtyard of monastic character. Conceived as a serene extension of the main room, this enclosure of firm lines works as a lung of warmth and silence. Here, Mediterranean light and the shadows cast across the day become the principal architectural element, setting the rhythm of everyday life.

Double-height kitchen and dining area of Casa Nido, opening onto the courtyard

Kitchen of Casa Nido beneath the upper-floor volume

Kitchen of Casa Nido and open door to the courtyard

Detail of the window frame in the double-height space of Casa Nido, with light on the wall

Continuous double-height space of Casa Nido, from kitchen to courtyard, with the upper floor above

Double-height void seen from the upper floor of Casa Nido

The interior layout renounces traditional compartmentalisation in favour of a fluid spatiality, both horizontal and vertical. A continuous double-height space connects the courtyard with the ground and upper floors, leaving the bedroom and bathroom in a private zone bounded by the central stair core. The core is defined in stone and, within its thickness, houses storage and services.

Upper-floor room of Casa Nido with a window and bookshelves above the void

Window of Casa Nido with light and shadow cast across the wall

Bedroom of Casa Nido with a small window and warm light

Stone stair of Casa Nido with its solid balustrade washed in light

Diagonal light across the lime-plastered interior walls of Casa Nido

The materiality is emphatic on the outside, light and calm within. The original brick walls remain exposed, with the trace of former openings picked out in untreated rough render. The new volume emerges in lime plaster, yielding prominence to the pre-existing building. The stone paving extends to all interior finishes and linings, rising up the stair and cladding the shower and worktops. Light floods the whole space, binding it into a single ambience from the courtyard.

New lime-rendered volume above the brick wall and original frieze of Casa Nido

(Photo)

David Zarzoso

(Press)

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