Apartment Apart­a­mentos Ardora

Where the Morrazo Pen­insula meets the Atlantic lies Aldán – a tiny village with sweeping views, which for cen­turies belonged solely to the fishermen who set out to sea every day from the bay in their small boats. To this day, the coastal village remains largely self-con­tained and is the perfect retreat in the midst of our fast-paced world. A plan that the four Barrio sisters also pursued. There was a plot of land, and with it the question: how can family clo­seness and private retreat be com­bined under one – or, better still, several – roofs? Tog­ether with the Galician architect Alfonso Penela, co-owner Marisa Barrio deve­loped an artful structure com­prising three zinc-clad buil­dings and four inde­pendent holiday apart­ments.
Ardora’s most striking feature is its roofscape, which stretches out over the Atlantic land­scape like an upturned boat’s hull. As one neighbour put it: “When the tide comes in, you just turn the house round – and you’ve got three boats to sail.” To achieve this unusual design, Penela opened up the ridges of the gable roofs and sealed the cut edges with tri­an­gular glazing. Viewed from above, the struc­tures resemble folded metal sheets, criss-crossed by bright lines of light that illu­minate the interior spaces. From below, large tri­an­gular windows com­plement the sil­houette of the ensemble, which is remi­niscent of the archi­tec­tural tra­dition of the hórreos – Galician gran­aries standing on stilts.
The names of the four apart­ments say it all: Cíes, Ons and Sálvora refer to islands off the coast, whilst Ardora refers to the natural phe­no­menon that occa­sio­nally causes the waves to glow blue. Three of the flats can accom­modate up to five guests, whilst Sálvora can accom­modate two to three. To fulfil the ori­ginal requi­rement for spon­ta­neous trans­for­mation, the architect devised a clever arran­gement of doors, stair­cases and split pathways that either con­nects the spaces into a single house or leaves them as inde­pendent living units. The rest is mini­malism: zinc on the outside, cedar wood on the inside, with glass acting as the con­necting element. The matt zinc takes on the hues of the sky – some­times grey, some­times silvery, some­times bluish – and incor­po­rates the chan­geable Galician weather into the façade design. Inside, the walls, cei­lings and bespoke built-in fur­niture exude the scent of warm wood.
Each apartment has an outdoor area over­looking the estuary and con­sists of two fle­xible, stacked cubes that house all the living spaces. The floor plan remains the same in every apartment: a central core with a compact kitchen and bathroom divides the space and sepa­rates the living and sleeping areas, whilst floor-to-ceiling glazing frames the beach and the horizon. The interior design com­prises Marisa’s coll­ection of works by renowned desi­gners – from Álvaro Siza to Alvar Aalto – com­bined with everyday objects and Galician craft­smanship. There is also a com­munal garden that leads down to Vil­ariño beach. A place in con­stant dia­logue: with the tides, the sea­birds, the shifting play of light and the occa­sional bio­lu­mi­ne­scent glow of the Atlantic.

What to do

Swimming at Vilariño beach or at one of the other beaches on the peninsula, boat trips, diving, snorkelling and kayaking, hiking (e.g. to the ‘Enchanted Forest’), fishing, cultural excursions (e.g. to the Massó Museum or to Vigo), numerous culinary highlights – above all, of course, fish and shellfish

Why we like this house

A house with an original yet deeply rooted architectural style, which can be flexibly transformed in the blink of an eye without compromising its seaworthiness.

This house is great for

Couples, families or groups of friends in all sorts of combinations who value both intimacy and privacy as well as a constant connection with the Atlantic

Owner

Marisa Barrio is an expert in interior design, art and hospitality. Together with the Galician architect Alfonso Penela, she has turned the vision of the four Barrio sisters into a place where family closeness and personal retreat come together as a matter of course. Today, Marisa and her sisters are opening their Apartmentos Ardora to guests seeking tranquillity and a sense of connection.

Details

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