Smooth Operator

Photos © Diego Opazo

 "As elegant and succinct in form as a corporate logo or a hockey puck."

That's the line the editors cut from my article on a house in Valencia by Fran Silvestre, featured in Record Houses this month (link here). Probably the right call, but it was the only real zinger in the piece. On the other hand, I love their title (above). And the house made the cover.

"The project required some structural sleight-of-hand to arrive at this simplicity of line. The entire house stands on four columns, which rise two stories through the short lateral walls to support the roof's concrete vault. The bedroom floor is suspended from this vault via high-strength concrete panels hidden in the partitions ... (leaving) the ground floor ceiling completely free of interruptions.... The two overhangs counterbalance each other, extending up to 18 feet."

If you are wondering about the seamless exterior finish, it is solid-surface, better known as Corian, mainly used in kitchen counter tops.

Smooth Operator
Balint House, Valencia, Spain, by Fran Silvestre
Architectural Record, Record Houses, April 2015, pages 94 - 99, cover