A striking summer home on Spain's Costa Brava has captured attention for its unique interpretation of ancient Roman architecture through contemporary design elements. The Casa Tres Patis, designed by Barcelona-based architecture firm Twobo, transforms classical architectural principles into a modern family retreat that celebrates outdoor living through three distinct courtyards.
Located in the quiet village of Albons in Girona province, this 3,200-square-foot residence was conceived as a space for relaxation, socializing, and enjoying the Mediterranean lifestyle. The homeowners, an art historian and a cinematographer-director who discovered Twobo through friends' apartment renovation, specifically requested a second home that would serve as a gathering place for family and friends, organized around an outdoor dining table.
The house's innovative layout revolves around three carefully designed courtyards, each serving a different purpose and drawing inspiration from historical precedents. The first courtyard evokes the atmosphere of a village square, complete with a large tree providing natural shade. The second, inspired by a Roman impluvium, features a plant-surrounded water basin that serves as a natural swimming pool. The third functions as a fruit and vegetable garden filled with aromatic plants, reminiscent of traditional monastery gardens.
Architects Pablo Twose, María Pancorbo, and Alberto Twose from Twobo drew primary inspiration from the nearby Greek and Roman ruins of Empúries, one of Catalonia's oldest and most impressive cultural monuments. These archaeological remains, which include the ancient Greek settlement of Emporion and the later Roman planned city of Emporiae, provided a template for architecture that appears as remnants connected to the landscape. The California Case Study Houses, with their experimental vision of modern living, also influenced the project's development.
The residence is organized as separate pavilion-like structures distributed around the courtyards, creating what the architects describe as "nomadic architecture linked to the dynamics of life." This design philosophy emphasizes air over matter, combining ceramic, glass, steel, and wood to create "an architecture of gentle breezes, shadows, light, siestas, and cheerfulness." To move from one pavilion to another, residents must actually cross the courtyards and step outside, ensuring constant connection with water, vegetation, and sea breezes.
The building's striking visual impact comes from its bold material palette. Colorful tiles throughout the interior and exterior spaces create a playful character that contrasts dramatically with brutalist concrete pillars and rough-textured concrete walls. These materials were chosen to establish a tangible connection with the environment, despite the site initially being completely barren without a single tree. Local clay bricks from Cerámica Ferrés, a traditional brick factory located just kilometers away, were specifically selected to maintain regional authenticity.
A distinctive grid-like facade acts as a skin that regulates light and heat within the buildings while remaining permeable to air and natural illumination. External colonnades provide essential shade structures to maintain comfortable temperatures throughout the day. Glass fronts can be fully opened to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces, supporting the architects' vision of a house designed to be inhabited from the outside.
The interior design maintains warmth through wood-clad ceilings and vibrant tile work, while a minimalist stainless steel kitchen provides functional efficiency. Custom furniture designed specifically for the project includes a specially crafted dining table and a green sofa made for the living room. The main building features two floors connected by an open staircase, with floor-to-ceiling glass providing views into the green courtyards from nearly every vantage point.
Notable design elements include a blue-tiled interior fireplace that mirrors the outdoor grill in both color and form, creating visual continuity between indoor and outdoor cooking spaces. Built-in wall libraries provide storage solutions, while pendant lighting from Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm for Nordisk Solar adds Scandinavian design touches. Even the bathrooms maintain the open-air philosophy, with connections to outdoor spaces.
The master bedroom features floor-to-ceiling glass walls and generous ceiling heights, complete with an ensuite bathroom overlooking the colonnade that surrounds the swimming pool. Strategic openings in the concrete perimeter wall frame specific views while providing protection from northern winds and maintaining privacy for the pavilions and green spaces.
This unconventional summer residence successfully transforms an unused, neglected plot into an open residential complex with particularly dynamic architecture. The project demonstrates how historical inspiration can be reinterpreted through modern materials and contemporary living needs, creating a space that truly embodies the architects' vision of outdoor Mediterranean living centered around gathering, sharing, and enjoying life with loved ones.
