Let the house step down with the ground rather than flatten it. Villa Rouse is a contemporary single-family home in Benahavís (Málaga), on a sloping plot between hills with open views towards the Mediterranean. The view was never the difficult part; getting to it without carving up the hillside was. Our approach at Klic Arquitectos: stepped platforms that follow the natural profile, and a façade that knows how to shade itself from the south-westerly sun.
The site and its constraints
The plot falls away between hills. A slope like that leaves two options. Cut it back to a single level: simpler to build, and it shows later — in earthworks, in retaining structures, and in a house that reads from half a hillside away. Or spread the accommodation across several levels and keep the profile of the ground. We took the second option.
The main aspect, south-south-west, delivered the views and created the opposite problem: direct sun on the best elevation during the worst hours of summer. Slope and south-westerly sun are the two conditions the whole design is organised around.
The proposal: stepping down instead of levelling
The house is laid out as stepped platforms following the natural topography. On the main level, living room, dining area and kitchen run as a single open sequence onto the terraces and the pool. The bedrooms sit on separate levels, so each one takes its own view without being overlooked from the rest of the house.
Stepping the plan is not a formal gesture. Splitting the accommodation across levels reduces the excavation and lets the hillside keep its profile. Pool, terraces and porches work in the same direction: they extend the house out into the landscape and give structure to outdoor living, which on this coast takes up a good part of the year.
Materials and sun protection
The volume is white, pared back, with flat roofs and overhangs that shield the façade from direct radiation. That overhang is the quiet piece of the design: it allows the living room to open to the south-west without turning into a glasshouse in July.
The finishes follow the same reasoning: natural stone for the external paving, light-toned single-coat render on the façades, engineered timber indoors and thermally broken aluminium frames. Add to that cross-ventilation and a high-thermal-mass envelope. Mass, shade and a through breeze — the same principle the south has always built with, long before mechanical cooling existed. None of it shows on a drawing. It is what decides the indoor temperature in August.
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Project data
- Typology: Detached new-build single-family home
- Use: Residential
- Location: Benahavís (Málaga, Andalusia)
- Programme: Living-dining, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, terraces, porches and pool
- Site strategy: Stepped platforms following the natural slope
- Orientation: South-south-west, with views over the Mediterranean and the hills of Benahavís
- Klic services: Architectural design
- Team: Klic Arquitectos (Málaga)
Other projects by Klic Arquitectos
If you are interested in our residential architecture on the western Costa del Sol, take a look at Villa Kauai too, at La Cala Golf (Mijas).
