Architects: Dom Arquitectura
Area: 76 m²
Year: 2015
Photography: Jordi Anguera
Lead Architects: Pablo Serrano Elorduy
Interior Designer: Blanca Elorduy
Collaborators: Sebastia (Fustes)
City: Sant Cugat del Vallès
Country: Spain

Wood Studio House, designed by Dom Arquitectura and completed in 2015, is a 76 m² sustainable home located on a south-oriented steep slope. The design focuses on optimizing natural resources and minimizing environmental impact through strategic orientation, natural ventilation, prefabricated timber construction, and the use of local materials. Solar panels and rainwater harvesting further enhance its eco-friendly features.

The orientation and position of the house/studio have been carefully studied to maximize the site’s resources and climatic conditions, reducing environmental impact, energy consumption, and enhancing interior comfort. The house features a rectangular plan with its longer side oriented south, featuring large openings to capture winter sunlight while being protected from summer sun.

Three elevations are relatively opaque, with few openings on the northern façade to facilitate natural cross ventilation during summer. The compact rectangular volume is only perforated at the terrace and porch, providing covered, protected spaces. This compactness helps reduce energy demands.

The south elevation has large, well-protected openings against summer sun. The studio’s opening is shielded by a 2-meter roof overhang, preventing direct radiation in summer. The living room’s large opening is aligned with the outer wall and protected by a 1-meter wooden sunshade overhang, allowing winter sunlight to heat the interior.

Temperature and pressure differences between the south and north façades create gentle cross ventilation through the openings, aiding thermal control, especially during summer. This design results in fresh, dim, and breathable interiors during hot months.

The house is built on an older structure of concrete pilings and steel beams, lifting it above the natural terrain and minimizing environmental impact. The chosen timber technology allows precise design and measurement, using locally sourced materials to reduce transportation costs and ease future reuse. These choices optimize resources and reduce waste, CO2 emissions, and overall environmental impact.

Seven water tanks beneath the house can hold up to 10 cubic meters of rainwater collected from roofs and exterior pavements, used for garden irrigation.

A kitchen garden allows for greater self-sufficiency, with organic vegetables and a small bee house for honey production.

Solar panels on the roof produce hot water for the bathroom, reducing energy consumption from the grid.

The prefabricated timber construction process uses recyclable, reusable materials, with components assembled in situ to facilitate transport and assembly.

Timber, sourced from the Catalan Pyrenees, is certified for sustainable forest management.

The walls and roofs have low thermal transmittance, and the structure’s fire resistance is rated RF=30. Interior finishes include three-layered plywood with a pine finish, and exterior finishes use autoclaved treated fir wood.

Timber is the main material for structural purposes and most interior and exterior finishes. Linoleum is used for interior pavements, made from renewable natural materials.

Thermal insulation includes 16 cm thick wood fiber, providing low thermal conductivity and density, enhancing overall insulation.

The construction system ensures a highly insulating, breathable skin, preventing air escape, thermal bridges, and energy waste. The house’s outer layer includes a breathable layer to allow interior spaces to release steam while preventing condensation.

The house’s eastern side features an entry platform under a covered porch. The main interior space is a living room with access to a northwest corner bathroom. The back studio space, separated by a chimney, includes a covered south-oriented terrace. The flexible distribution allows for future changes, potentially converting built-in closets into a kitchenette, transforming the studio into a small cottage.

Tall exterior openings feature high-quality framing with thermal bridge technology and double-glazing with low-emission layers, providing greater protection than CTE regulations and breaking any potential thermal bridge between exterior and interior.