This house by Alberto Campo Baeza stands on the beach in Cadiz, Spain, overlooking the Atlantic. Built in reference to a jetty, the home juts out from the natural slope of the land. The boxy, monolithic structure is made of Roman travertine, referring to the nearby remains of Roman fisheries and more distant ruins of the same history.
The private home is accessible by walking through a trench of sand. After that, the architecture and environment are open. Inside, the interior windows allow one to look through the house to the surroundings. Sliding glass doors connect inside and outside. Circular skylights offer a reminder that land and sea are not the only realms of the beachfront. The white and natural stone interior provides a serene backdrop for all of these connections between environment and object, idea and execution.
The house’s conceptual boundary reaches its highest point on the roof, lead to by no less than two flights of stairs. A man-made echo of the beach, the roof holds two partial barriers, a three-part enclave, and a pool. The expanse has no guardrails, simply dropping off where sand and ocean begin.
