252 House on the Cliff – Herzog & de Meuron

This project is located in the south west of the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. The site, directly on the coast and stretching 500 metres inland, adjoins the existing property, which is already used by our clients as a holiday home consisting of a main house and annexes. Our brief was to build a retreat on the new site that would offer precisely those qualities that the existing house does not have. Our idea was to create a large pool that would also function as a roof, and to place it as close as possible to the sea – creating a mirroring expanse of water set into the rocky and sandy landscape.

This extensive pool-scape, divided into areas of differing water qualities, actually touches the cliff at only four points. The narrow, elongated living area, free of supports and glazed all round, is cut out of the rock beneath. The back and front of this room, which follows the contours of the coast, are very different. The front, including the patio roughly hewn out of the rock, is open to the sea along its entire length. It stands for views, openness, wind and water. The back gives onto three atrium spaces also hewn out of the rock. These are quiet, sheltered, secluded retreats, filled with aromatic herbs and macchia. In this way, it is possible to look out over the sea or shelter from it, as the mood, the time of day or the season demands.

The main stairway that cuts through the surface of the water and the building itself provides access to the house and patio, while at the same time dividing the large open-space living area into two distinct zones. Only the sleeping area can be visually and acoustically closed off by glass partitions backed with curtains. The kitchen and bathroom are hewn out of the adjacent rock and have large sliding doors set into the rock, allowing them to be turned into covered outdoor rooms. A narrow stair leads from the bathroom directly to the triangular sundeck set into the surface of the water.

The interior sides of the pool are fitted with transparent solar and lunar panels. The underside and the few exterior surfaces on the landside are clad in polished chromium steel. The roof is cantilevered out towards the sea; a two-metre high poolside wall follows the topography and acts as a support. Both are made of roughcast tinted concrete whose texture and colour echo the cliff. The entire roof area is covered with water and a thin film of water even washes the stairs. Seen from the land, the flat monolith dissolves into fragments of light and reflection. Seen from the sea, all that can be discerned is a long, narrow slit in the cliff. The glazing of this aperture is set well back so that is practically invisible.

The idea behind this project is to build what is to all intents and purposes an invisible house, and in doing so, quite literally undermine the building regulations (which stipulate that no building should be closer than 250m to the coastline). This radical design approach is a response to the increasingly stringent building regulations that have been tightened up in recent years to stem the many abuses and illegal developments. The client eventually chose not to have it built because of the possibility of a legal wrangle that might take years to resolve.
Herzog & de Meuron, 2006

Process

A house is to be built right on the protected west coast of Ibiza, enhancing its residents’ contact with the sea.

In an initial approach, the house is hewn straight out of the rock, in the manner of ancient cave dwellings.

252_RI_190502_carving-strategy-cappadocia-carving-rock

Spanish regulations stipulate that, aside from swimming pools and sports facilities, no new structures can be built less than 250 meters from the coast. Herzog & de Meuron develop a house, which is set right into the cliff and only visible from above as a pool.

The house is to be hewn from the rock with rough and straight cuts; the roof is designed as a landscape with the pool above the living area embedded in it like Land Art.

Structural studies for the pool and the roof with tension cables, columns, supporting walls and very substantial pillars.

From the sea, the house appears to be no more than a narrow slit in the rocky landscape; the living area stretches out behind it—optimizing the all-round experience of
the sounds and the light from the sea, which stretches out in front of it like a gigantic diorama.

Small, individually designed garden courtyards are cut into the rock, providing light and sheltered outdoor spaces for the bedrooms.

The house is entered either via the courtyards or the pool area.

252_DI_190503_Entrance_02-two-staircaises

The drawings show the lively interplay between internal and external spaces.

Photographs of models show the reflective surface of the pool, the planting in the courtyards, and the outdoor space in front of the living area high up above the sea.

As part of an artificial landscape, the house almost entirely recedes into the natural landscape.

Team

Partners: Jacques Herzog; Pierre de Meuron; Ascan Mergenthaler
Project Team: David Koch (Associate, Project Architect); Luis Játiva (Project Architect); Miguel Rodríguez Martínez (Project Architect); Rodrigo Faria da Costa Lima; Silvia Gil

Facts

Planning: Architect Planning: Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland; General Planning: Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland; Quantity Surveyor: JT Ardèvol & Associats, Barcelona, Spain; Structural Engineering: R. Brufau, BOMA SL, Barcelona, Spain; Mechanical Engineering: Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany
Building Data: Site Area: 2'260'419 sqft, 210'000 sqm; Gross floor area (GFA): 6'070 sqft, 564 sqm; Number of levels: 1; Footprint: 13'982 sqft, 1'299 sqm; Length: 232 ft, 71 m; Width: 72 ft, 22 m; Height: 19 ft, 6 m; Gross volume (GV): 109'475 cbft, 3'100 cbm; Facade surface: 2'540 sqft, 236 sqm