House S / BOV Estudio

Architects: BOV Estudio
Area: 336 m²
Photography: Javier Bravo
Materials: Stone
Location: Ayllón, Segovia
Country: Spain

House S by BOV Estudio is a 336-square-meter residence located near the historic center of Ayllón, Segovia, an area recognized as a National Historic-Artistic Complex. The project establishes a deliberate relationship between traditional construction and contemporary spatial design, using materials and techniques associated with the region while introducing a distinctly modern architectural language. One of the principal interventions is the preservation of the façade of an existing building on the site, maintaining continuity along the street and incorporating part of the previous fabric into the new house. The plan is organized into daytime and nighttime zones connected by an entrance hall, with the separation also expressed externally through two differently shaped and inclined roofs. Each volume opens toward its own courtyard, allowing the primary rooms to maintain privacy from the street. Differences between service and principal spaces are reinforced through ceiling height, roof geometry, and contrasting openings. The house is arranged entirely on the ground floor without interior steps, while integrated doors and structural elements allow adjoining rooms to remain flexible in their degree of connection.

What is your favorite project?

For César, it is House S in Ayllón. Its significance lies in working within a place he knows intimately and translating local ways of building into a contemporary home. Preserving the existing street façade, while creating a new void and a more private domestic world behind it, condenses many of the ideas that interest us.
Interview with César Buquerín, Irene González and Antonio Valverde of BOV Estudio

House S begins with a careful negotiation between preservation and transformation. Rather than treating the historic surroundings of Ayllón as a stylistic template, BOV Estudio retains the façade of one of the pre-existing buildings and uses it as part of a new architectural composition. The retained street frontage preserves continuity with its surroundings, while the intervention behind it introduces a substantially different spatial order.

The house is organized around two principal domestic territories corresponding to daytime and nighttime use. Between them, the entrance hall acts as a hinge, providing both connection and separation. This internal distinction is expressed externally through the differing geometry and inclination of the roofs, making the functional division of the house legible in its overall form. The entrance itself is recessed from the street, producing a cut in the façade that further marks the division between the two volumes.

The same separation continues through the relationship between the interior and the courtyards. Each volume opens toward a different exterior space, allowing the domestic program to turn inward and respond to the client’s concern for privacy. The smaller courtyard, positioned beside the bedrooms, is intentionally more austere, while the larger courtyard connected to the living room and kitchen incorporates an extensive planted area intended for family use.

A recurring architectural strategy is the contrast between primary and secondary spaces. Service areas are defined by flat ceilings, while the principal rooms rise beneath taller, sloping ceilings that follow the form of the roof. These differences alter the scale and character of the spaces as occupants move through the house, allowing the section to reinforce distinctions already established by the plan. This contrast also appears in the treatment of the exterior openings. Secondary spaces are marked by small square windows that read as perforations within the wall, emphasizing the dominance of solid mass. In the main living areas, large glazed openings face the courtyards, reversing that relationship so that void and transparency become more prominent. In this way, the façades correspond directly to the organization of the interior rather than operating as an independent composition.

The principal program is contained entirely on the ground floor, without interior steps, supporting accessibility and ease of movement throughout the residence. BOV Estudio describes the spaces as “continuous yet semi-connected,” a condition achieved through different types of integrated doors that allow adjacent rooms to be joined or separated according to use. The load-bearing walls, placement of openings, and individual character of the rooms contribute to this flexibility without undermining the clarity of the plan.

Material and construction choices support the project’s relationship with its setting. Stone is identified as the primary building material, while the source also emphasizes the use of local materials, regional construction techniques, and local craftspeople. These elements establish continuity with the building traditions of the area while remaining part of a contemporary architectural expression. The bespoke furniture, both fixed and loose, forms an additional layer within the design. Conceived in relation to the architecture, it supports the intended atmosphere of the rooms and contributes warmth and tranquility to the domestic environment.

Environmental considerations are embedded in the construction and spatial strategy. The source identifies the thermal inertia of the building solutions, the geometry and design of the openings, and the use of local materials and craftspeople as fundamental components of the project’s sustainability approach. Additional systems intended to improve energy savings complement these measures. Together, these strategies address environmental, social, and economic sustainability through the design and construction of the house rather than treating performance as a separate architectural layer.