Ca’n Gallineta: Climate-Savvy House on a Sunlit Mallorcan South Slope
Ca’n Gallineta lands in Manacor, Spain, as a house by OAM – Office Architecture Mallorca that reads the hillside before it writes on it. The project settles on the knoll and extends down the slope, opening the main face to the south for light and winter warmth. Passive moves shape daily comfort, while a single sloping roof gathers the volumes into one clear silhouette.
Light gathers along the south face as the house steps with the hill. A quiet plinth of porches and pergolas tempers glare and gives the elevation a human rhythm.
This is a house in Manacor by OAM – Office Architecture Mallorca, composed of shifting rectangular volumes under one sloping roof. The throughline is climate: an orientation that courts winter sun, shade where it counts, and materials chosen for endurance and local sense.
Set to the Sun
The plan opens wide to the south and tightens toward north and west. This stance pulls in low winter light while cutting exposure to harsher winds and afternoon heat, a simple strategy with strong results.
Patios nest in the offsets between volumes, catching morning light and evening shade. Deciduous vegetation, pergolas, and deep porches layer protection so summer glare softens and winter warmth still reaches deep inside.
Porches and Patios
A horizontal plinth runs in front, setting a pace for arrival and a place to dwell. Under its cover, circulation slides between indoors and out without strain, the threshold broad and slow.
The subtle displacement of volumes shapes pockets for sitting, dining, and cooling down after the heat. These interstices add pause to the façade and daily life, turning the slope into a sequence of lived moments.
Materials With Purpose
Materials work hard and stay close to home. Larch wood joinery warms the touch, while a handmade ceramic lattice filters glare and builds privacy without sealing off air.
Cyclopean concrete walls anchor the hillside and store the day’s temperature, and earth‑toned lime mortar keeps the shell breathable—durable, repairable, and tuned to the island’s climate.
A Unifying Roof
One sloping roof gathers the composition into a single, legible form. Beneath it, natural cane vaults span lightly, a textured ceiling that moderates light and hushes sound with a fine grain.
Recycled roof tiles laid across exterior ground surfaces give grip and continuity, while polished concrete floors inside read cool underfoot. Posidonia (Neptune balls) from nearby shores insulate the roof, a local resource turned thermal buffer.
Stone, shade, and measured openings do most of the work. The hillside lends its rise, and the architecture returns calm order to the descent.
As the sun swings low, porches take the edge off and patios keep the day. Nothing shouts—one roof, a few volumes, and climate-savvy craft carry the house forward.
Photography by José Hevia
Visit OAM – Office Architecture Mallorca
