Zero Energy Villa
The balearic island of Menorca was in 1993 recognised as Unesco World Heritage site due to it's exceptionally intact Nature and Biosphere Reserve. The site is located remotely at the heart of the island and consists of a historically protected farm house ensemble. Our proposal consists of restoring, converting and extending both buildings to create an autonomous off-grid family home attuned to the natural surroundings. The scheme achieves zero net energy consumption and zero carbon emissions by generating renewable clean energy through a solar field on-site, which is then used to power air source heat pumps and underfloor heating/cooling. Greywater is supplied by collecting rainwater in underground cisterns, carved into the volcanic rock, while drinking water is available from fresh water wells and solar powered pumps. An existing stone oven structure is restored.
If there’s a construction element that defines Menorca, it’s the marés sandstone - omnipresent from prehistoric monuments to fortresses and churches. We emphasised retaining & restoring the existing sandstone structures, while discreetly upgrading its performance with local cork insulation to achieve high thermal efficiency and an increased thermal mass by a new internal marés stone layer. The great majority of the required construction materials ranging from natural stones, hardwood, cork insulation to re-cycled roof tiles are locally available on the island to reduce the embodied carbon energy.
Within the former stables - converted into an adaptable living area with guest quarters - where various dining, entertaining and resting islands are positioned under the retained and restored arches, we selected a different stone finish type for each marés surface to have a coherent but also distinctive interior. Large triple glazed concealed sliding doors with internal louvres blend the interior with the outdoors and keep the summer sun at bay.
Workstages: Feasibility to Tender
Client: Private
Date: 2015-
Size: 994 m2
Location: Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
