SIGLA Studio Designs a Flexible Brick residence in spain
SIGLA Studio completes Patio House in Cardedeu, Spain, a single-family home that treats time as material and method. Conceived for a young couple with two children leaving behind a cramped, compartmentalized apartment, the project offers generous light, direct outdoor connection, and the ability for the house to evolve with changing family life. Built almost entirely within the limits of a narrow, deep plot, the house forms a protective brick perimeter around two inner patios, described by the architects as ‘lungs’, an organizational strategy that gives the family privacy, cross-ventilation, and a slow, measured relationship to daylight.
The current arrangement places the parents’ suite upstairs and the children in interconnected rooms, but the home can invert this configuration as the family grows older. The ground floor can become the main sleeping area; upper rooms can merge or be divided, requiring no construction, only a rethinking of use.
all images by Marta Vidal
Patios as Lungs: Breathing Light and Fresh Air Into a Compact Site
The idea of designing for permanence guided the studio from the outset. Years after encountering the Georg Kolbe Museum House in Berlin, the Barcelona-based architects carried with them the impression of a place that felt relevant nearly a century after its construction, its garden and architecture coexisting without spectacle. That sense of durability resurfaces in Cardedeu, conceiving the house as an environment to be lived in, aged into, and reinterpreted by future occupants. The strategy echoes references such as Alvar Aalto’s Muuratsalo house, where brick walls define, shelter, and mediate the relationship with nature.
Responding to the tight site, SIGLA Studio established the ground floor as a near-complete footprint, respecting setbacks while shaping an inward-facing domestic world. Two patios, one at the entrance and one by the pool, become the lungs of the home, distributing daylight and fresh air to every room. Around them the team organizes the day-to-day spaces, including an entrance hall, kitchen, dining and living rooms, a full bathroom, laundry, garage, and a multipurpose area. Above, two large rooms can be divided into four, while a central landing offers space for study, reading, or play.
SIGLA Studio’s Patio House in Cardedeu, Spain
Materials curated to Reveal the Changing Day
Patio House is anchored by its handmade brick, produced at Forn d’Obra Duran, one of Catalonia’s last artisanal kilns. Each brick, shaped from natural clay, slow-dried, and wood-fired, is slightly different, creating a subtle variation across walls, pavements, sills, and copings. Brick forms the structure, the envelope, and the surface underfoot. By choosing a material that earns its patina, the architects reinforce the commitment of the project to longevity and environmental coherence. Indoors, the palette features microcement on the ground floor, natural parquet above, chestnut wood for built-ins, exposed ceramic vaults on the ceilings, and bathrooms finished with glazed tiles. SIGLA Studio treats light as another structuring element. The house receives sun from morning to late afternoon, and the occupants remain constantly aware of its movement, seasonal changes, shifting shadows, and fluctuating intensities.
this single-family home treats time as material and method
conceived for a young couple with two children
the project offers generous light and direct outdoor connection
the house can evolve with changing family life
built almost entirely within the limits of a narrow, deep plot
the house forms a protective brick perimeter around two inner patios
the organizational strategy gives the family privacy, cross-ventilation, and a measured relationship to daylight
the idea of designing for permanence guided the studio from the outset
SIGLA Studio established the ground floor as a near-complete footprint
the ground floor can become the main sleeping area
the home can invert this configuration as the family grows older
the strategy echoes references such as Alvar Aalto’s Muuratsalo house
the two large rooms can be divided into four
project info:
name: Patio House
architect: SIGLA Studio | @s1gla
location: Cardedeu, Spain
art direction: Mariela Achón
photographer: Marta Vidal | @_martavidal
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