Miquel Lacomba Architects: The house is located in the valley of Puigpunyent, in the Sierra de Tramuntana mountain range in Mallorca. It boasts optimal orientation towards the south and open views towards the mountains. Access to the house is through a small porch where there are movable vertical slats that can be used to control the sunlight. Inside, there is the living-dining room area, where the position and design of the furniture shapes the space. The staircase, which is expressed as another piece of furniture, has a bookcase underneath it. This room, which faces south, has access to the pergola.
The fireplace is adapted to the requirements of airtightness and insulation of the passive house, becoming an element of connection with the rural context. With the same intention of integration with the environment, the exposed structure of the wooden beams is expressed on the ground and first floor ceilings. The west-facing kitchen is separate, although visually connected to the living-dining room, with access to the outside. On the first floor are the three south-facing bedrooms and a multi-purpose studio for the family’s artistic creation. Special attention has been paid to the colours and materials for the interior of the house, choosing warm tones, using wood, natural stone, and white walls covered with lime mortar.
This gives the house a warm, natural and cosy feel. The house uses the main passive resources such as south facing orientation, sunlight control, high thermal insulation thickness, control of thermal bridges, good air tightness to outside air, double flow of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and high insulation and airtight windows. The solar panels cover the energy demand for the rest of the house.
Although it is a passive house, cross ventilation has been taken into account, since on summer nights the natural coolness of the valley is used to cool the house naturally. he house was built with ecological and sustainable materials, horizontal wood structure from sustainably managed forests, ceramic brick, hydraulic lime mortar, natural cork insulation, and lime-based acrylic finishes on the facade.
For the interior finishes, natural oil-based wood products, silicate paints and stone treatments with A+ and “Ecolabel” seals have been used, i.e. almost “0” VOC emission in the interior, ecological and environmentally friendly. In this way, the building envelope of the house has been conceived as a “third skin”, all the materials of which it is composed allow breathability to water vapour, and are free of VOCs. It should be added that materials such as lime, being hygroscopic, allow humidity to be regulated naturally.
With the intention of minimising the ecological footprint, the “kilometre “0” concept has been incorporated by working with builders and industrialists close to the construction area and, where possible, using local or national materials. All these applications and criteria have contributed to ensuring that the house’s energy consumption is very low, whilst at the same time providing a very high level of comfort as well as contributing to a respectful commitment to the environment.
