Villa San Diego is a newly built house in a privileged Sotogrande location that offers superb views to the Strait of Gibraltar. It features a classic Andalu cian architectural style highlighted by wide, white walls with glass panes that frame the sea views and enhance their beauty. According to architect Alejandro Giménez, the owners live in northern Europe and wanted a summer house to enjoy the area’s natural light and traditional architecture. They had full confidence in his work as they had references from other houses he had done in the area. The design was conceived on the actual plot, sculpted in stages with the sea, light, garden and landscape as key reference points. “For villas,” says Alejandro, “we always work with the aim of achieving a clear relationship between the exterior and interior spaces. Focusing on this as pect, we play with the volumes that connect the outdoors to the indoors,
WHERE STUNNING AVANT-GARDE DESIGN MEETS ANDALUCIAN STYLE
as well as the large windows that link terraces, gardens and patios with the inside areas of the house. We make a special effort to highlight the views by introducing southern Spain’s natural light into all spaces of the house.” With its high, sloping ceilings, the villa’s spacious living room takes full ad vantage of the light and traditional Andalucian architecture which, with its thick walls and cross ventilation, ensures a pleasant temperature during the summer months. At the heart of the house is the swimming pool. Part-pool and part-fountain, it is linked to the house by a shared wall and a cascading curtain of water that can also be viewed from inside the home. The lighting is indirect and gradual, and set up to enhance the architecture rather than for pure technical purposes. To that end, the lights are embed ded into the walls, with their origins hidden from view.
On your first meeting with a new client, what is your general approach? Before we start we always hold a meeting to get to know each other. This is the moment when we take the opportunity for them to tell us their ideas. We explain how we work, as well as our methodology, and at the same time we try to obtain at this meeting all relevant information related to the client. With this information, which is really valuable, we develop our first ideas and unify concepts, to create a global idea that will nurture the project.
What do you prioritise in your planning and what are the main points to be taken into account before starting work on a building and interior design project? To begin with, it is very important and of great value to have the project very well-defined – that is, everything related to the choice of materials, avail ability and stock to avoid delays. The more specific the planning, develop ment and execution, the less margin for error and the greater the level of satisfaction.
PERSONALISED NURTURING OF EXCLUSIVE LUXURY PROJECTS
INTERVIEW WITH LUCIA CASAUS AND ALEXIS GONZÁLEZ – FOUNDERS AND OWNERS OF GC STUDIO
Why do you think it is important to know certain personal details about your clients when developing projects? It is a key step and our best tool to achieve success. GC Studio designs spac es to be lived in, so knowing what you do for a living, how you live, whether you have a family or not, and whether you enjoy a more or less active social life is essential in order to optimise the result. For us, knowing your lifestyle is important when designing or decorating a house based on your tastes, per ences and needs, so that you can feel at ease in your home. We need to start from the premise that each client is different. No two are the same, and for this reason there are no pre-established questions or issues that we can ask them. Depending on their needs or desires, or whether the house is intended to be their habitual residence or a second home, for exam ple, we go down one particular path or another to gather the appropriate information for each project.
