Spanish architectural firm This ls Arquitectura has completed a new guest pavilion on the formidable hills of the Saturna Forest in Spain. Designed as an extension of the main house, the new guest pavilion is made entirely of weathering steel with a slatted façade that creates a retreat inside, a place to rest and reflect.
The architects say: “Our first idea was to create a clear and simple shape, a rectangle placed in the middle of the forest, with as little change as possible to the surrounding features, as if it had always been there.
The guest pavilion is rectangular and includes two floors and a basement – the house utilizes the slope as the entrance to the house on that level. The entrance is recessed into the slope and the floor is utilized as a separate beverage room. The basement floor is covered by exposed concrete.
The basement looks like a sculptural space in the mountains, you enter it and then you go upstairs through it to reach the pavilion. The interior was designed as one space: a living room and bedroom space with a bathroom in one corner.
The east, south, and west elevations are all glazed with shading devices made of sliding lattice of weather-resistant steel. The north elevation has more controlled openings to illuminate the bathroom and the entrance staircase.