Badalona, Spain — Rising boldly along the sun-drenched coastline of Badalona, Casa PR21 stands as a testament to contemporary residential architecture that deeply respects its environment. Designed by the renowned Catalan practice Alventosa Morell Arquitectes and curated for publication by Valentina Díaz, this striking four-story dwelling—crowned with an accessible roof terrace—explores the delicate balance between structural integrity, spatial fluidity, and coastal topography.
Photographed expertly by José Hevia, Casa PR21 captures the imagination not through ostentatious ornamentation, but through its masterly orchestration of natural light, honest materials, and spatial voids. Tailored specifically for a family of three, the home maximizes a challenging, narrow terraced plot facing the Mediterranean Sea, turning spatial constraints into architectural virtues.
Main Facts: Architecture at the Edge of the Sea
Casa PR21 is a masterclass in urban coastal integration. Located on a restricted parcel of land that spans the full width of the site, the project had to navigate tight spatial parameters while offering sweeping maritime views and a serene domestic environment.
Project Name: Casa PR21
Architecture Firm: Alventosa Morell Arquitectes
Location: Badalona, Spain
Typology: Single-Family Residential
Scale: Four stories plus an accessible roof terrace
Client: Family of three
Photographer: José Hevia
Curator: Valentina Díaz
Core Architectural Concept: The use of natural light, structural voids, and a restrained material palette to unify multi-level living spaces and pull the coastal landscape deep into the domestic interior.
The overarching design philosophy hinges on the manipulation of transparency and mass. By stretching the building across the entire width of the narrow plot, the architects established a direct, unobstructed visual corridor from the rear facade to the front sea-facing orientation. White surfaces act as optical amplifiers, bouncing sunlight deeper into the interior zones and erasing the traditional boundaries between compact urban living and open-air coastal spaciousness.
Chronology: The Evolution of Casa PR21
The realization of Casa PR21 did not happen overnight. It represents a meticulous, multi-year journey of site analysis, conceptual design, engineering, and fine-tuned execution.
Phase I: Site Analysis and Conceptualization (Pre-Design)
Alventosa Morell Arquitectes approached the Badalona plot with an acute awareness of its geographical vulnerabilities and potentials. Terraced plots facing the sea often present unique structural hurdles, including retaining earth pressures, managing intense solar radiation, and dealing with corrosive marine air. The design team spent months studying sun paths, wind patterns, and neighborhood scale to ensure the home would feel private yet intensely connected to the horizon.
Phase II: Architectural Programming and Spatial Zoning
During the schematic design phase, the team mapped out the multi-story program. Because the plot is narrow, a vertical stacking strategy was mandatory. The architects chose to distribute daily life across four distinct levels, avoiding a cramped vertical feel by introducing strategic double-height voids, internal stairwells framed in warm timber, and open-plan transitions.
Phase III: Structural Engineering and Materiality Selection
As structural plans solidified, the firm focused heavily on material selection. To combat the seaside environment while maintaining a clean aesthetic, a restrained palette was chosen. Structural concrete, pristine white interior walls, and warm-toned wood elements (prominently featured in staircases and handrails) were prioritized. This phase also integrated the engineering required for the expansive glass balconies and the reinforced roof terrace.
Phase IV: Construction, Interior Fit-Out, and Completion
The construction phase tested precision logistics due to the narrow confines of the terraced street grid. Prefabrication techniques and careful staging ensured minimal disruption to the neighborhood. Once the structural shell was sealed, interior finishes were applied, emphasizing seamless transitions between indoor rooms and external loggias.
Phase V: Public Reveal and Publication (August 2026)
Following its final inspection and habitation by the family of three, Casa PR21 was officially introduced to the architectural community, receiving widespread acclaim for its purity of form and brilliant passive lighting strategies.
Supporting Data: Dimensions, Materials, and Spatial Organization
Understanding the true impact of Casa PR21 requires looking closely at the data points, spatial allocations, and physical elements that define its architecture.
Spatial Distribution Across Four Levels + Roof
Ground Level / Access Zone: Serves as the primary transitional threshold from the street, integrating functional utility spaces and framing immediate views toward the interior core.
Intermediate Living Levels (Levels 1 & 2): House the communal living areas, dining spaces, and kitchen. These floors are designed as fluid, open-plan environments where structural walls are minimized to encourage social interaction.
Private Quarters (Level 3): Dedicated bedrooms and private suites for the family of three, positioned higher up to capture elevated vistas of the Mediterranean while maintaining acoustic and visual privacy.
Roof Terrace: An accessible crowning platform that acts as an open-air living room, offering panoramic views of the Badalona coastline and acting as a thermal regulator for the home below.
Materiality Breakdown
Exterior Facades: Highly durable composite finishes and weather-resistant renders designed to withstand sea salt and high winds. Integrated sliding glass panels maximize ventilation and frame coastal scenery.
Interior Surfaces: Matte white plaster and paint dominate, maximizing light reflection. Floors feature continuous, low-maintenance surfaces that visually expand the narrow floor plates.
Structural Accents & Millwork: Natural timber is utilized extensively in stair treads, handrails, and bespoke cabinetry, injecting warmth and tactile richness into an otherwise minimalist environment.
Official Responses and Design Philosophy
Alventosa Morell Arquitectes has built a reputation for designing architecture that listens to its environment. In descriptive statements provided by the architecture practice regarding Casa PR21, the firm emphasized that the home is fundamentally an exercise in environmental choreography.
"Built on a narrow terraced plot facing the sea in Badalona, Casa PR21 occupies the full width of the site and unfolds across four stories and an accessible roof terrace," the architects noted in their official project statement.
The firm further explained the driving force behind the interior spatial experience:
"Designed for a family of three, the house organizes everyday life through a sequence of spaces in which structure, light, and voids shape the interior experience. A restrained material palette and white surfaces allow natural light to flow from one facade to the other, making it the project’s primary organizing element."
By treating natural light not merely as an afterthought or a byproduct of windows, but as a tangible construction material, the architects successfully dissolved the claustrophobic tendencies inherent to narrow urban plots. Light cascades down stairwells, bounces off white walls, and penetrates deep into the heart of the home, ensuring that every corner feels alive and dynamically connected to the outdoors.
The completion and critical reception of Casa PR21 carry significant implications for contemporary urban and coastal architecture, particularly in densely populated Mediterranean settings.
1. The Revitalization of Difficult Topographies
In many coastal cities, plots that are narrow, steeply terraced, or irregular are often written off as unbuildable or left to poorly planned speculative developments. Casa PR21 proves that with rigorous spatial planning and clever cross-sectional design, even the most restrictive sites can yield world-class residential architecture. By expanding across the full width of the plot and utilizing vertical stacking paired with internal voids, the project offers a blueprint for maximizing urban density without sacrificing spatial quality.
2. Light as a Structural Material
Traditional architecture often treats light as a passive element that fills a room after walls and roofs have been erected. Alventosa Morell Arquitectes reverses this paradigm. In Casa PR21, light is the structural glue that binds the four stories together. The arrangement of stairs, balconies, and open voids is entirely contingent upon how sunlight travels through the building. This approach offers valuable lessons for architects designing homes in tight urban contexts where lateral windows may be limited by neighboring properties.
3. Sustainable Passive Design in Coastal Climates
While active mechanical systems are necessary in modern homes, Casa PR21 leans heavily on passive design principles. The cross-ventilation enabled by dual-facade openings facing sea breezes naturally cools the home during hot Mediterranean summers. Furthermore, the accessible roof terrace provides thermal mass insulation while offering the inhabitants an outdoor living space that reduces the need for energy-intensive indoor cooling during peak daylight hours.
4. Minimalist Warmth
The project challenges the cold, sterile stereotypes often associated with minimalism. By pairing an all-white reflective color scheme with tactile, rich natural wood elements—evident in the striking staircases and handrails captured by José Hevia—Casa PR21 establishes a warm, intimate domestic sanctuary. It demonstrates that modern architectural restraint does not have to come at the expense of human comfort and emotional resonance.
Conclusion
Casa PR21 by Alventosa Morell Arquitectes is much more than a comfortable coastal home for a family of three; it is a thoughtful architectural essay on light, gravity, and site specificity. By turning a challenging, narrow Badalona plot into an asset through vertical articulation and brilliant material curation, the firm has delivered a project that will undoubtedly influence coastal residential design for years to come. As urban areas continue to densify and desirable coastal land becomes increasingly scarce, homes like Casa PR21 illuminate the path forward: intelligent, light-filled, and deeply respectful of the natural world just beyond the doorstep.
