Sliding facade that respects the mood of the residents

In a remote part of the coastal area of Costa Blanca, just five kilometers from the coast, the family house "Vivienda en Elche" was built. The single-story new building by the architectural studio Estudio Arn Arquitectos immediately attracts attention with its striking contrast of open and closed surfaces on the façade. The wings of the Schüco ASS 77 PD.NI sliding system, which extend to the full height of the rooms and primarily along the entire length of the façade, allow for almost unlimited panoramic views towards the southwest, into the garden with a swimming pool. They can be opened at will, depending on the temperature, season, and the mood of the residents.

The city of Elche is located inland in the Spanish province of Alicante, not far from the Costa Blanca coastline. It is famous for its palm grove, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Therefore, palms could not be absent from the design of the family house "Vivienda en Elche." From an architectural perspective, the authors from Estudio Arn Arquitectos aimed to reference the building style of rural houses typical for this region. This was reflected particularly in the gable roof and also in the use of natural light stone for both interior and exterior flooring and for the northern façade. Traditional elements create a striking contrast with vertical blinds, with internal wooden paneling made from tropical iroko wood originating from Africa, and with large-format glazed façade panels in aluminum frames and exposed concrete.

Protected from the north, open to the southwest

The layout of the house consists of a square main building and an elongated wing that extends from it towards the southwest at a 45-degree angle. The contrasting approach to the façade of the two connected parts of the building corresponds to the different usage zones. Bedrooms, dressing rooms, and bathrooms were placed in the cube, discreetly hidden from outside views. The diagonally attached wing contains the living area, dining section, and kitchenette, oriented towards the terrace, garden, and pool, partially incorporating outdoor spaces.
Natural light penetrates the north-facing bedrooms and bathrooms through windows and glazed doors, some of which open into an inner atrium that is hidden from the eyes of passersby (Schüco AWS 65 BS and Schüco AWS 50.NI aluminum windows). Thanks to the wooden blinds, this atrium, like other parts of the northern façade, contrasts greatly with the light colors of the façade cladding and natural stone flooring.

The façade is fitted with Schüco ASS 77 PD.NI sliding system to the full height of the rooms

After the initial impression of the inconspicuous and closed entrance spaces and northern façade, the building opens up to the space with panoramic glazing along the entire length of the southwestern façade. It opens up unlimited views of the outdoor terrace with the pool, the garden, and the landscape around the plot, sparsely dotted with low residential and commercial buildings. The uniqueness of this elongated glazed façade, which reaches the height of the entire floor, derives from the ability to open at will four of its wings measuring approximately 4 x 3 m using the sliding mechanism. The entire façade is fitted with the Schüco ASS 77 PD.NI sliding system, whose slender aluminum profiles of the Panorama Design allow for the creation of glazed surfaces up to the full height of the room without obstructing the view with any transoms. The tracks embedded in the floor ensure barrier-free movement and a smooth transition between the indoor and outdoor spaces whenever the residents desire it.

Schüco systems customized for warmer climates with special shading layer and safety glass

Mild winters and warm summers – these Mediterranean climate conditions have influenced the form and configuration of the sliding system. Schüco offers the ASS 77 PD sliding system even in a thermally uninsulated version "NI", which is perfectly suited for warmer climatic zones. It was utilized in the Vivienda en Elche project, in combination with insulating double glazing fitted with a special shading layer. As part of a special adjustment, the wings were equipped with safety glass rated class 2 – a requirement for increased resistance to burglary, which the window systems Schüco AWS 65 BS and AWS 50.NI installed in this house also meet.

In accordance with the architectural vision, it was necessary to realize transparent surfaces on the building's envelope with the highest possible share of glass, the largest panels, and the thinnest visual width of the profiles, in which the manufacturer Novalco Metales, a partner company of Schüco from Alicante, significantly assisted the designers. A precise customized plan, careful production in the workshops, and also precise crane work during panel installation on-site ensured a seamless installation. "Given the warm climate, all the possibilities and advantages that the Schüco ASS 77 PD sliding systems offer can be fully utilized in Spain. This applies to both the façades of private residential houses and the façades of office buildings," says Paco Gea Miralles, owner of Novalco Metales and project manager.

Project name: Family house in the Spanish city of Elche
Architect: Estudio Arn Arquitectos, Elche (Spain)
Metal elements manufacturer: Novalco Metales, Alicante (Spain)
Completion: 2018

Used systems:
Sliding systems: Schüco ASS 77 PD.NI
Windows: Schüco AWS 65 BS and Schüco AWS 50.NI
Entrance doors: Schüco ADS 65.HD
Special elements: Door, window, and sliding systems in resistance class RC 2
Profile color coating in RAL 7016, matte

Interview with José Amorós Gonzálvez, chief architect of the project from Estudio Arn Arquitectos

How does the family house Vivienda en Elche fit into the surroundings?
José Amorós Gonzálvez: In this project, we wanted to reinterpret the typology of architecture typical for local rural buildings. The result was a combination of the cubic mass of the main building, clad in natural stone and topped with a gable roof, and a strictly horizontal block made of reinforced concrete. The main building with the gable roof conceals functional spaces that can be used year-round regardless of the weather, while the wing with a flat roof serves partly as a closed kitchen and dining area and partly as an open terrace with shading.

Looking at the entrance part, the house initially appears very closed…
José Amorós Gonzálvez: The northern part of the house oriented towards the driveway ensures the necessary privacy for the adjacent functional spaces – bathrooms, dressing rooms, and bedrooms. Natural light flows into them from the internal atrium, which is clad on the outside with translucent, vertically divided blinds made from tropical iroko wood originating from Africa. Using the material applied, we established a certain visual concept on the entrance façade that then continues into the building's interior.

The entire façade facing the garden with the pool consists of large-format sliding systems from Schüco. What role do these systems play in the overall visual concept?
José Amorós Gonzálvez: By using Panorama Design wings that stretch the full height of the room, we have managed to create a glazed façade, thus allowing a visually fluid transition of materials and space between the interior and the exterior. The light stone floor flows freely from the interior to the terrace and to the pool, whether the sliders are open or closed, and the same applies to light and views. Through the large-format elements measuring 4 x 3 m, the residents can regulate the degree of openness and closure of the spaces and thus the blending of indoors with outdoors according to the weather, season, or current mood. This house features permanently open, variable, and closed spaces within the building envelope that offer a high degree of natural light and panoramic views.