House VCH by FH2L Arquitectos
House VCH anchors a calm residential plot in La Moraleja, Alcobendas, Spain, where FH2L Arquitectos choreographs water, patios, and garden as one continuum. The house unfolds as a layered sequence of light-filled rooms and outdoor rooms, using proportion and careful orientation to maintain privacy while staying visually open. Across three levels, the project balances family life, leisure, and environmental responsiveness with a confident yet quiet architectural presence.
A low sheet of water traces the approach, catching sky and foliage in its still surface as visitors move toward the entrance. Above, daylight filters down from a skylit patio, so the first steps inside already fold exterior and interior into one experience.
This house in La Moraleja, Alcobendas, Spain is a three-level residence by FH2L Arquitectos, organized around patios, terraces, and a strong relationship with garden and pool. The project concentrates on how architecture meets its immediate climate: through oriented volumes, generous glass, and adjustable lattices that temper sun and guard privacy. Each floor responds to daily life and weather, binding social rooms and quiet retreats to a shared sequence of light, water, and greenery.
Approach Through Water
Arrival begins outdoors, where a refined water feature runs alongside the path and sets a measured pace toward the front door. Reflections soften the built edge and reinforce a calm entry, so the threshold reads as both architectural and landscaped. Just inside, the foyer receives light from the patio above, turning the transition from street to interior into a vertical moment of brightness and shadow. This initial pairing of water and sky establishes the project’s ongoing dialogue with its setting.
Living With Patios
On the ground floor, social rooms pivot around the garden and pool, with large glass openings that slide the living and dining areas toward the outdoors. The double-height living room uses scale and proportion to stay open yet still feel welcoming, while the adjacent staircase tracks the patio line, acting as a sculptural vertical link. Patios, expansive windows, and adjustable lattices manage sunlight so that brightness never tips into glare, keeping interiors comfortable through shifting seasons. Garden and pool function as extensions of daily circulation, not separate destinations, encouraging outdoor living as part of routine life.
Layered Privacy Above And Below
Private rooms occupy the upper level, where orientation and window placement secure quiet while still framing selective views of the surrounding greenery. Terraces sit between interior and garden, giving residents semi-open zones that catch air and light but shelter from direct exposure. Below ground, the basement holds the garage, utility rooms, and auxiliary areas, all handled with the same visual discipline so the house reads as one coherent volume. This vertical stacking of social, private, and service realms keeps daily patterns legible while responding to the site’s need for discretion.
Material Shade And Climate
Material choices reinforce the environmental strategy, pairing natural stone with warm wood to give tactile weight to walls, floors, and fitted elements. Adjustable louvers and lattices deepen the façade, casting varied shadows across the day while controlling solar gain and protecting interior views. Large glass surfaces draw in daylight to reduce the need for artificial lighting, and cross-ventilation routes fresh air through the main rooms to support passive cooling. High-performance thermal materials work quietly in the background, helping reduce the home’s environmental footprint without sacrificing comfort.
Garden As Extension
Outside, built volumes sit carefully among planted areas so the house touches the landscape with studied restraint. Native species shape a garden that needs limited maintenance yet adds seasonal texture and supports biodiversity around the pool and terraces. The pool aligns with primary views from the living areas, acting as a visual anchor by day and a luminous plane by night. In this setting, movement from interior room to garden path feels continuous, guided by light, planting, and water rather than hard boundaries.
By evening, louvers tilt, patios glow softly, and the water feature picks up the last color of the sky. The residence returns each day to the same quiet dialogue with its climate, using orientation, material depth, and landscape to stay responsive. That steady relationship between building and surroundings gives the house a composed, enduring character within the green fabric of La Moraleja.
Photography by Nivelarte
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