A white house stepping down the hillside of Monte de San Antón, in the city of Málaga, among pines that were there first. The plot runs to 800.74 m², falls steeply and comes with its own pine wood, so this single-family home in Pinares de San Antón is arranged over three levels: the house steps down with the ground rather than levelling it, and moves as little earth as possible.
The brief: five bedrooms over three levels
The commission came from private clients, and the basic design (proyecto básico) is dated December 2021. The programme is five bedrooms and four bathrooms across three levels: basement, ground floor and first floor. The basement is no mere storeroom: it houses a 27.28 m² office, a bedroom with its own bathroom, the garage-store and the plant room.
We had worked this hillside before, on Casa Aroa. The starting point here was the same: the ground first, the house after.
What the plot dictated
The plot slopes steeply and has its own pine wood. Before setting any levels we commissioned a geotechnical study from GeoBiental’s geotechnics department. On a slope, the level you sit the house at is not a drawing decision; it is the decision that weighs most on the whole build.
The pines called for a separate approval, because not all of them could stay. Málaga City Council’s Parks and Gardens Department (Parques y Jardines) authorised the removal of six trees and the transplanting of three, on condition that those three remained within the plot itself. That strikes us as the right condition — the house was designed to live among the pines, not instead of them.
The changes in level are held by retaining walls of precast concrete units, the same system used for the boundary wall. It does nothing for a render and a great deal for the build: the units arrive ready-made, go up quickly and spare you from putting up formwork across half a hillside.
Structure and site
Vertical structure is reinforced concrete columns and walls; horizontally, a 30 cm deep waffle slab (25+5) in reinforced concrete with permanent void formers. We designed and signed off the structure ourselves: it was not outsourced.
The external wall is a cavity build-up: half-brick perforated outer leaf, air cavity, mineral wool insulation and a plasterboard lining, rendered outside in cement mortar and painted white. That white is what picks the house out against the pines. The basement floor is power-floated concrete — it is the working and storage level, and it needs no more than that. Heating and cooling run on an air-to-air direct-expansion system with ducts concealed in the suspended ceilings, and domestic hot water comes from an air-source heat pump.
Construction supervision (dirección de obra) is in our own hands: Ruth Buján Varela and Juan Goñi Uriarte. Site execution management and health and safety coordination are handled by José Manuel Van Eyk, building engineer (arquitecto técnico). The 13.50 m² pool was documented separately, with its own basic design and construction project.
Gallery
Project data
- Typology: New-build detached single-family home over three levels (basement, ground floor and first floor)
- Use: Residential — single-family home
- Location: Calle Cedros, Pinares de San Antón, Málaga
- Design year: 2021
- Status: Under construction
- Built area: 1,113.02 m²
- Plot area: 800.74 m²
- Units: 1 single-family home (5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms) plus a 13.50 m² pool, with its own separate project
- Client: Private developer: private clients at the basic design stage and a private limited company for the construction project and works phase
- Construction supervision (dirección de obra): Klic Arquitectos — Juan Alejandro Goñi Uriarte and Ruth Buján Varela
- Site execution management (dirección de ejecución): José Manuel Van Eyk, building engineer (arquitecto técnico), who also acts as health and safety coordinator during construction
- Structure: Structural design by Klic’s own team: 30 cm waffle slab (25+5) in reinforced concrete with permanent void formers, on reinforced concrete columns and walls
- Klic’s services: Basic design, construction project, construction supervision, and the basic design and construction project for the pool
- Team: Klicstudio Arquitectura y Diseño SLP. Juan Alejandro Goñi Uriarte (registered member no. 1206, COA Málaga) and Ruth Buján Varela (registered member no. 1333). Geotechnical study: GeoBiental geotechnics department
