L’Alzina complex in Caldes de Malavella
Jaime Prous Architects- Type Housing
- City Caldes de Malavella (Girona)
- Country Spain
- Photographer Alejo Bagué
These 23 homes, surrounded by pine trees, are located beside the Camiral golf course of Caldes de Malavella, a municipality in Girona province, in the comarca of La Selva. A work of the architect Jaime Prous in collaboration with Antón Monedero, Àlex Pineda, and Eduardo Romero, the white volumes of varying size form a small village adapted to the topography, optimizing views of the surroundings. Inside, the rooms are concatenated fluidly, preventing transition spaces from forming.
The white architecture of Mediterranean tradition reflects solar energy away, helping to minimize overheating in summer. Openings are distributed strategically: large windows for communal areas, protected by pergolas and porches; and smaller ones for the bedrooms. The patios make for cross ventilation. Gaps of the cavity-wall type trap heat by day to release at night, breaking thermal inertia.