August 24, 2021 | Updated: September 16, 2021

Oriol House: a reworking of brutalist architecture from a Mediterranean perspective

This home in Torre de Conill (Bétera, Valencia), designed by architect Alejandro Tejedor, blends brutalist structures with native materials using PORCELANOSA Group collections.

Two distinctive stacked blocks open out to the exterior with large horizontal picture windows, unveiling Oriol House, an incredibly vivid representation of the brutalist architecture that emerged in the mid-twentieth century to transcend the purity of rationalism. Fundamentally, the architectural movement is about showing – and accentuating – construction materials like concrete and cement in their raw state (the word derives from ‘brut’, the French for raw or rough) and placing function over form.

The search for symmetrical imperfection predominates throughout this Torre en Conill (Bétera, Valencia) home, in which architect Alejandro Tejedor has successfully integrated each monolithic element of the structure into the natural landscape using collections by PORCELANOSA Group.

A brutalist home with an exotic feel

The generous Balinese style garden and turquoise water swimming pool create a dialogue with the surroundings, and the sculptural volumes and sober colour palette (with a predominance of beige, brown, black and grey hues) are standout features of the design.

The glazed, open façade gives rise to the main rooms, with Arizona Caliza and Arena, Boston Topo and Bottega Caliza collections – all by Porcelanosa – serving as a common, interconnecting thread. Each piece was fitted using Butech adhesives, joins and self-levelling spacers, specially designed for use with ceramic tiles.

This uniform aesthetic makes the most of the natural light – as seen in the Emotions open-plan kitchen by Gamadecor. The island kitchen design and wood textures running through the cabinets and doors create a balanced contrast with the worktop, made in XTONE sintered mineral compact, which can be extended to turn the working area into a marble-look table.

They opted for wood to unite the domestic setting with the surrounding nature. This can be seen in the L’ac Modern Natural parquet flooring, used throughout the upper level and main bedrooms.

These rooms feature a warm interior design centred around white and mustard tones, spherical table lamps and light textiles, providing a link to the bathrooms with the XTONE® mineral compact and natural stone by L’ac. mineral compact and natural stone by L’ac. The bathroom furnishings include Next washbasin units by Gamadecor combined with XTONE® countertops, Persian White marble from L’ac (walls) and Tono taps (an exclusive Foster+Partners design) and Pure Line by Noken. The Krion® mineral compact also plays a leading role, above all on some of the countertops and the Slim bath. The material’s bacteriostatic, moisture-resistant and easy-cleaning properties make for safer, more hygienic spaces.