BRICKHOUSE GARDEN· A GARDEN FROM BIRD’S-EYE VIEW.

The project began with a very clear idea: to intervene in a profound way while keeping the intervention imperceptible, respecting the Barcelonian Noucentista garden in which we found ourselves. The aim was that, once completed, the new garden would appear untouched, as if it had always been there. An organic space where, upon entering, one immediately experiences immersion in nature.

The original garden, a historic Barcelonian Noucentista garden, presented a complex topography and strong urban constraints. The challenge was to completely transform the space while maintaining absolute respect for the existing conditions and the pre-existing vegetation. The proximity of the Collserola mountain range became a constant source of inspiration, guiding the integration of the intervention with its natural surroundings.

The new uninhabited exterior architecture was conceived as a versatile, lush and low-maintenance space, capable of creating a continuous relationship between vegetation, the urban system that contains it and the newly introduced water elements. A refuge of calm and connection with nature within a fully urban context, functional and welcoming, able to accommodate the required programme.

The complexity of the project lay in carrying out all the necessary earthworks while keeping the existing vegetation entirely intact. An almost surgical intervention, a true act of landscape precision, which preserved the memory of the place and reinforced the feeling of a garden that has evolved naturally over time.

Privacy was a key concern. The typology and characteristics of the surrounding urban fabric required the protection of the garden’s interior spaces, avoiding direct visual exposure. This was achieved through a strategic arrangement of vegetation and carefully controlled visual sequences that ensure privacy without sacrificing light or openness.

The material palette —stone, water, vegetation and paving— was selected to engage in a coherent dialogue, using clear geometry and soft transitions to create an organic and timeless aesthetic.

In terms of sustainability, efficient systems were incorporated with a clear awareness of the trophic network in which the project is embedded. Water use was addressed in a coherent and sustainable way through a reservoir-like pool, and plant species were selected for their adaptation to the current Mediterranean climate and its evolution, prioritising low water demand and high ecological and landscape value.

From the outset, the project was developed collaboratively by the three design teams. Passive House criteria were applied both indoors and outdoors, understanding the garden as an active component of the architectural system. Calderón Folch Studio was responsible for the architectural design, Nuria Navarro for interior design, and our studio for the exterior and landscape architecture.

Existing structures capable of coexisting with the new garden —an old garage converted into a workshop and a 19th-century tool shed— were preserved and integrated naturally into the new landscape.

Ultimately, Brickhouse Garden is a living and transformative outdoor space, discreet and deeply natural in character, one that does not seek to impose itself, but rather to belong to the place, as if it had always been there.