Peratallada Castle Garden Renovation / Mesura

The Peratallada Castle Garden renovation by Spanish Architecture firm MESURA preserves the relics of its medieval times and adds a more significant atmosphere to the fabulous and unique Garden of a heritage building dated from the X century a.C.

Peratallada Castle Garden Renovation Technical Information

Architects: MESURA Architects
Location: Plaza del Castillo, Peratallada, Forallac, Spain
Topics : Landscape & Urbanism, Renovation, Garden, Swimming Pools
Client: Robert Ferrer-Cajigal
Contributors: Dr. Joan Albert Adell / Construction: Burgos Gasull / Marble Works: Kendra / Lighting: Adymus
Project Year: 2015
Photography: © Salva Lopez

The main actor of the intervention is the pool; a water sheet which is permanently reflecting the amazing surroundings creating a magic sound atmosphere continuously on the move.

– Mesura Architects

Peratallada Castle Garden Photographies

Text by the Architects

The Peratallada Castle, located in the Baix Empordà (Catalonia, Spain) and considered for its historic-artistic value a National heritage building, preserve in its stonewalls an apparent vestige of its medieval past. The garden project is dominated by the presence of the surrounding stones, dated from the tenth century. With more than 1.000 years of history, we could only step back to focus the central role in the monument.

Our commission was to design the garden and landscape of the castle, used as a private summer villa. The site had a complex topography with almost 2 meter drop from the street level to the house door: three different platforms solve the issue. A big Acacia hundred-year-old tree is another main actor, dominates the space with its sheer presence, and it structures the layout, becoming the center of the intervention.

The three horizontal platforms of Turkish white stone combine with the vertical concrete walls with wood texture finish: the horizontal plane is conformed by assembling pieces, a continuous formless material builds the vertical plane.

The stone pavement is composed of pieces of 7cm to 15cm width; this is possible by reusing some stock waste of material of one local quarry. The stock had many different pieces sizes, having to draw each stone one by one of the whole project as a giant puzzle. The unique pieces as the water drain or the shower, to understand the natural movement of the water by the gravity, sculpt pieces with modern CNC machines, merging tradition with innovation.

The mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering are perfectly integrated into the design, like the lighting and the plugs are built-in the stone bench, or in the stair lighting is built-in the steel rail section.

The main actor of the intervention is the pool, a sheet of water permanently moving, the fantastic surroundings play a significant role in the reflection of the water, and the sound creates a magic atmosphere: the water overflow, a cascade over the concrete wall.

Looking forward to producing a sustainable garden, the entire project is conceived to recollect the rainwater, even from the house roof, and recollect it in a medieval well dig out in the natural stone soil, more than 9meters above the ground level. This well is used to water all the plants of the Garden.