Set on a mountaintop in Asturias, Spain, Cabanon Pumar is a renovation by Spolia that reshapes an existing three-story house into a 148-square-meter getaway tied closely to its cider landscape. Apple trees, rolling hills, and an old llagar frame the view, and the valley below fills with morning clouds that change the feel of the home from hour to hour.
Instead of leaning into a predictable “rustic” makeover, the architects keep the house’s simple rural profile and make the updates clear on purpose. Inside, a once-dark, compartmentalized layout is opened up, trading enclosed rooms for a more continuous main floor where the kitchen, dining, and living areas share the same light and sightlines. Windows on multiple sides pull the surrounding countryside into daily life and let sunlight reset the mood across the day.
The centerpiece is a curved volume built from glass blocks. It handles circulation while pushing daylight deeper into the plan through a translucent surface that separates spaces without sealing them off. After dark, that same glass block core reads like a lantern from within, turning light into a material that defines the home’s center.
Spolia pairs that glow with a calm material base, including pale walls, epoxy resin and rubber flooring, and restored masonry. Then the renovation snaps into focus with precise color moves that flag what’s new: yellow doors and handrails, red structural elements, green beams, and blue mosaic surfaces. For crews working around masonry restoration, it’s a clear example of how new finishes can sit next to existing masonry without trying to erase age, texture, or the building’s original story.
Each level responds to what was already there. The attic under the pitched roof becomes storage plus a guest room marked by red supports and a circular window. Down below, the cooler, more humid basement keeps its rough stone walls exposed, with blue-tiled counters and slender red supports set against the existing masonry.
Read the full, original article from Designboom here.