Projects Wanted - Barbacoa House, by Pepe Gascon

Pepe Gascon Arquitectura is an Architecture office based in Barcelona, Spain. This office responded to our Projects Wanted invitation and sent us five projects to be published. We chose "Barbacoa House" to be the project published in first place due to the cost control work that was conducted, which took into consideration the challenge of designing a single house with a low-cost budget. Located in Barcelona (Terrasa), the project was developed in the year of 2012 and executed during the next year. It cost about 76.000,00 € with an area of 91 sqm. The architect office did the descriptive memory of the project through the imagination of three different scenes that could have taken place in this space. The list of the used materials and technical specifications is also published below. The photographic work was conducted by José Hevia.

We are open to receive projects from all around the world, regardless of their dimension or typology. Please send us high quality photos (indicating their authors), drawings and descriptive texts in English to our Marketing e-mail - david.cardoso@dimscale.com. It will be our pleasure to help spreading new Architecture concepts and ideas.

- Barbecue House in Three Scenes -

Scene 1

[A very well-matched elderly couple is discussing what trees to plant and where in the garden of their secondresidence, a small, detached, single-storey house with a barbecue as big as the living-dining room. It is winterand the house only has the roof framing in place.]

She: A cypress. That’s the tree that every Catalan farmhouse has at the entrance. Right here’s where we’regoing to plant it. Then we’ll see it as soon as we come up from the street and it will welcome us.

He: Hell! Have you gone nuts? Cypresses make people think of cemeteries. Anyway, that’s where we’re gonnaend up soon enough unless we decide for once and for all. Okay, come over here with me to the barbecue …You see? Here! In this little corner of the terrace I’d plant a proper "quebracho tree" and not just because it’sthe national tree of my dear homeland.

She: The one your mother had in her yard in Buenos Aires? That tree with thorns on its branches? No way! Mygrandchildren would climb up it and get pricked.

He: Don’t be so dumb! Don’t you know how great it would be here, in summer, when we’re enjoying myArgentine grills?

She: Twaddle! Look, come over here. (They go over to the frontal garden.) Here I’d like to plant three pines, likethe neighbour’s but in a triangle. Then we’re sure to have shade.He: So why do you want three?

She: (Imitating his accent): What a schmuck! We gotta have three to put up the hammocks.

He: Hammocks? But we’re too old for swinging.

She: Numbskull! You swung it to me pretty well last time we were here, there in the scaffolding …


Scene 2

[He’s doing an Argentine grill for her grandchildren. It’s spring and the almost finished house now only needsglass in the windows.]

He: Well, these little moneys are really something. They don’t like sweetbread, offal, innards or tripe. It’s only Catalan blood sausage for them and hamburgers. Honey! Can you bring me the chow we bought in La Boqueria?

She: Of course I can, my cowboy!

He: Meanwhile, I’m gonna get the grill ready and bring some more firewood. I’ll be back right away. (He goesbehind the barbecue wall and is heard off stage) You know what? The secret of a good grill’s in the coals, soyou can cook it over a nice slow fire.

She: Yes, yes, of course … And, by the way, what did you arrange with the gardener? When’s he coming toplant the trees?

He: You should know! That dumb-ass said he was gonna call the lady of the house directly. (Whispers tohimself) Money makes the world go round.

She: Sweetie, the children will be here soon. I’m setting the table here inside.

He: But don’t you want to eat outside?

She: Too much sun. Maybe we should have planted your quebracho at least? (He comes back round the cornerof the barbecue.)

He: You’re a pain in the butt … Well, I’m gonna make the chimichurri and those brats are gonna down it by thespoonful.


Scene 3

[A hot summer afternoon and they’re about to have a nap after a paella he’s made for the housewarming. They’ll be spending the whole summer there.]

He: Shall I make some mate?

She: You’re so crazy about those herbs of yours! Forty degrees in the shade and you want mate?

He: With you, under these beautiful pines, enjoying these views, in the hammock … there’s no better time forit. If it’d been left to you, there’d be no mate, no bedroom, no bathroom …

She: Listen to him! The original idea was to use my land as a place for you to do your grills and that’s all. And then … “well, yes, a little toilet. And, now we’re here, let’s have a little kitchen for cooking up other feasts”. And so on, even adding another bedroom for guests and a living-dining room. Well, what a cheek!

He: But yeah, in the end the little house has only got one wall of this whatchamacallit-clay, which we didn’t even paint because the architect kept saying it was cheaper like that. Then, after that, a concrete floor andceiling and that’s it. Couldn’t be any simpler or cheaper. You chose the kid, didn’t you?

She: Yes. And luckily it’s always me who ends up choosing. Heaven knows what you’d do under that quebrachoof yours. “Si no hi ha arbre millor que un pi mediterrani, home!” *

He: Is that you or are you turning into …?[Curtain]* The best tree of all’s the Mediterranean pine, man! (in Catalan language)

- Pepe Gascon Arquitectura

Technical specifications of the main sections of the work done:

- The horizontal structure is built out of reinforced concrete slabs measuring 30 cm thick, the slab is exposedand has no false ceilings, hence it is shuttered using phenolic panels.

- The vertical structure is mixed combining a wall of block "termoarcilla" without any finishing that cross all thehouse, and three steel columns outside.

- Aluminium sliding doors, lacquered in matt silver color

- Continuous concrete flooring.- Internal partitions made using two sheets of laminated plasterboard measuring 15 mm, finished with plastic paint.