hinge – July 2019

hinge 275_64

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Menorca, Spain

NOMO STUDIO

Frame House

For the design of vacation houses in the beautiful environs of coastal Menorca,

part of the task is simply not to screw it up. You’re given a climate of sun and

warmth (but also humidity and salty air), stunning views over the scrubby,

tilting landscape towards the blue sea (but also an occasional nearby building

you’d rather not see), and a cultural attitude ideal for avoiding stress (but the

knowledge that it will trail you everywhere if you let it).

The site here was lovely but not unlimited, with the task of grabbing those

views over and away from proximate houses. That prompted raising the public

level to the upper floor, pushing the kids’ and guest bedrooms down below.

There were not a lot of mature shade trees either, so the idea for a large,

shady loggia space – and outdoor living room protected from sun or rain – was

derived. And because the views are unidirectional, and luckily towards the

descending slope, a fully frontal parti became obvious.

Frame House presents a white concrete box to the world, with its principal

facade developed as a composition of recessed rectangles making its frames.

Photography by Adria Goula

Even as it meets the ground, the outer frame is completed, floating just off

the surface of garden stones. The rear surfaces of all those recesses are

entirely in glass, giving onto the rooms of the house. The left and right walls

as well as ceilings of the main bays are canted towards the views, lending a

touch of abstraction to the whole, and emphasising the frame-like aspect of

each terrace. By day, these six pockets are shadowed niches; by night they

are glowing light fixtures.

The main level holds a living/dining room, kitchen, and master suite. You

enter on this level from the uphill, back side of the building. If you are

unfamiliar with the place, the dramatic release of walking inside and then

seeing that wide view would be sharp. But it’s really the big family loggia that

takes star billing in Frame House. You’d live out here day and night, and a

cantilevered fireplace feature at one end confirms it. The other rooms are

serviceable spaces to clean or sleep in – necessary tasks in order to spend

waking hours on the big terrace.