Forget the Amalfi Coast – these days it seems Empordà is the place to go for a summer sojourn. It wasn’t too long ago we were admiring the House in L’Emporda by Frances Rife Studio and today we share another summer house that will have you seriously contemplating a Spanish sea change.
Located between Figures and Girona, Sant Mori is a rural village with classic Mediterranean character and natural landscape, surrounded by fields and forests. Understandably the residents of this Sant Mori summer home were keen to spend as much time in it as possible, so local studio Mesura have delivered a design that is perfect for year-round hosting.
DESIGN Mesura PHOTOGRAPHY Salva López
It started with a swimming pool. Given the residents of the home were already using the house frequently during the hottest months of the year, it was a no-brainer to keep the pool as an integral part of the outdoor entertaining space, however Mesura have redistributed the space to bring back its vitality and functionality overall.
Now the outdoor space is more like a family meeting point, bolstered by the new canopy shade that provides some reprieve when the summer sun gets too hot. Fully embracing the natural light while opening up the space, the canopy is horizontally segmented to generated shade but throw dramatic geometric shadows on the ground. While the canopy may seem like a simple structure, it acts as both an integral support to outdoor living during the hotter months and highlights the clean lines and simple form of the building itself.
The horizontal lines of the space are further reinforced through the new facade, softly juxtaposed with the lush greenery of the garden that fringes the eastern side of the courtyard. With views towards Sant Mori’s fields and forests, the contained architecture of the outdoor area contrasts nicely with the natural landscape it looks out to. In fact we can easily imagine many a lazy summer’s day stretched out by the pool or under the dappled shade when things get too hot – now all we need is the perfect summer read!
What seems simple on the surface was of course the result of careful thinking and structure in reducing down the materials and how they are used in the space. By stripping the details back and opening the space to better embrace its surrounds, Mesura have transformed a space for year-round use, and added a warm yet restrained dynamic.
