- Project: P+E House
- Architect: Voilá!
- Location: Spain, Barbastro
- Year: 2023
- Area: 290 m2
- Photography: Courtesy of Voilá!
A Contemporary Farmhouse Rooted in Rural Spirit
P+E House by Spanish studio Voilá! reinterprets the traditional farmhouse for modern family life.
Located on the outskirts of Barbastro, a town in northeastern Spain, the residence draws inspiration from the industrial and agricultural structures that populate the region’s rural landscape.
The result is a home that feels both familiar and refreshing — a “happy farmhouse” that merges practicality with warmth, offering a serene escape from the monotony of suburban development.
Design Concept: Between Countryside and City
The project’s concept emerged from a desire to connect rural heritage with contemporary living.
Voilá! envisioned a home that references the simplicity of nearby farms and warehouses — pragmatic, geometric, and unpretentious — but infuses them with domestic joy and comfort.
The house occupies the northern edge of the plot, leaving the southern portion free for a generous garden. This planning strategy optimizes sunlight exposure and privacy while establishing a natural dialogue between interior and exterior.
Spatial Organization and Functionality
The two-story structure, complemented by an illuminated basement, unfolds along a longitudinal axis that follows the sun’s path.
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Ground Floor: The main living areas open directly onto the garden through large south-facing openings, filling the interiors with light and warmth.
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North Side: Service spaces such as bathrooms, hallways, and storage are positioned along the northern strip to enhance energy efficiency and privacy.
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Upper Levels: The volume is subtly fragmented, generating terraces that expand the living areas and add sculptural character to the building’s massing.
This strategic spatial layering transforms a compact, functional design into a series of inviting, multidimensional spaces.
Materiality: Industrial Skin, Warm Heart
The exterior is defined by profiled sheet metal cladding — used seamlessly across both façades and roof — unifying the structure in a continuous metallic skin that echoes the region’s utilitarian buildings.
Inside, the mood shifts. Warm wood finishes introduce softness and human scale, creating a dialogue between the home’s industrial shell and its cozy interior core.
Light, neutral tones amplify spaciousness, while selective use of texture gives the home a subtle tactile richness.
Sustainable Design and Passive House Standards
Sustainability guided every design decision.
P+E House was conceived as a compact, airtight, and highly insulated envelope, adhering to passive house principles.
These strategies ensure energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and reduced environmental impact — a modern response to the challenges of contemporary living in Spain’s changing climate.
By integrating passive design techniques with regional materials and forms, Voilá! demonstrates that sustainability can be both practical and poetic.
A Joyful Architecture of Everyday Life
P+E House is not an exercise in nostalgia but a forward-looking reinterpretation of rural modernism.
Through its honest materials, sustainable performance, and light-filled interior, the house captures the essence of domestic life — comfort, simplicity, and connection to place.
As Voilá! notes:
“We imagined a farm with a happy soul — a place where family life thrives amid simplicity, warmth, and sunlight.”
— Voilá!
