Casa Tres Patis develops an interior geography that revisits Mediterranean tradition through a contemporary lens, with an emphasis on the pleasure of inhabiting

In Albons, a small town in the Baix Empordà shaped by the tramontana wind and by the memory of the classical settlements of Empúries, Twobo Arquitectura signs a dwelling that places wellbeing at the centre of the project. Casa Tres Patis is rooted in a recognisable Mediterranean tradition and, at the same time, reinterprets it through a contemporary approach.

The house is organised around a continuous rendered perimeter wall that defines the boundary of the plot, protects it from the wind—that tramontana that has shaped the landscape of the Empordà—filters views and frames the distant scenery. Within this enclosure, it creates a sheltered interior realm where the house unfolds its true spatial complexity.

Three patios, three distinct atmospheres

Inside this enclosure appear the three patios that give the project its name and structure the entire house. Each proposes a different atmosphere and a specific way of relating to the outdoors. The first recalls a small village square, a space of shade and encounter organised around a tree. The second evokes the classical impluvium: a sheet of water surrounded by vegetation that introduces humidity, reflections and a changing perception of time and the passing of the seasons. The third, more productive in nature, is conceived as a garden of aromatic plants, in direct reference to monastic gardens. Three autonomous worlds that, together, construct an interior geography.

These patios are materialised in exposed concrete, understood as an architecture of permanence. Their dense and robust frames anchor the space and give it an almost archaeological condition, as if they were remnants destined to endure. In contrast, the inhabited spaces adopt an opposing logic. The rooms are arranged around the patios and grouped into three independent pavilions—light and permeable—connected to one another yet capable of operating autonomously.

The dwelling is thus constructed through a deliberate contrast between mass and lightness. While the patios are solidified, the pavilions are assembled from lightweight elements: ceramic screens, glass, steel and wood configure an architecture open to the winds, to shifting shadows and to filtered light. The result is a sequence of spaces where interior and exterior relate continuously, without rigid hierarchies, adapting to different moments of the day and to the seasons.

Casa Tres Patis is understood as a spatial system to be traversed and lived. The project is explained through the accumulated experience of walking between patios, pausing in the shade, sensing the proximity of water, or moving through spaces that open and close in response to the climate. Architecture appears here as a construction attentive to the sensory realm, yet resolved through clear and controlled decisions.

Completed in 2024, with a built area of 300 m², the house has been widely published in specialised media, consolidating its recognition within the contemporary residential architecture scene. Photographed by José Hevia, the project clearly reflects Twobo’s way of working: an architecture that draws on historical references without nostalgia, understands place as project material, and constructs wellbeing through spatial precision and everyday use.

Project: Casa 3 Patis.
Location: Albons. (Girona).
Built area: 300 m2.
Completion: 2024.
Architects: Twobo Arquitectura. Pablo Twose, María Pancorbo y Alberto Twose.
Photography: José Hevia.
Structure: Jordi Granada.
Technical architect: Gerard Codina.
Landscape design: DA.CH.
Collaborators: Ourania Chamilaki, Víctor Díaz-Asensio, Claudia Canalda
Contractor: Artyco.
Source: Twobo

Twobo Arquitectura

Twobo Arquitectura is an architecture studio based in Barcelona, founded by architects Pablo Twose, María Pancorbo and Alberto Twose. Since its beginnings more than fifteen years ago, the studio has focused its practice on housing projects and architectures of a domestic scale, understood as spaces where the essential decisions of contemporary living are concentrated.

Twobo’s work is defined by a rigorous approach to physical and climatic context, in which orientation, topography and environmental conditions become active components of the project from its earliest stages. Architecture is constructed through clear geometries and precise spatial systems, where each element responds to a recognisable functional and constructive logic. There are no superfluous gestures: form is always the result of a creative process, developed in an artisanal manner, seeking an apparent simplicity that adapts to each client.

One of the constant lines of research in their work is the role of intermediate spaces—patios, porches, controlled voids—as structures capable of organising the dwelling and regulating the relationship between interior and exterior. These spaces act as articulators of everyday life, modulating light, climate and sequences of use, and providing spatial depth without resorting to unnecessary complexity.

The studio works through a very close relationship with the client, understanding the project as a shared construction in which real needs, habits and time of use carry decisive weight. This attention to ways of living translates into durable architectures, conceived to age well, where constructive detail and the choice of materials form part of the same logic of coherence and economy of means.

Sustainability in Twobo’s projects is not formulated as an added argument, but as a direct consequence of designing with precision: passive climatic control, use of local resources, efficient constructive systems and a clear commitment to permanence. Architecture is thus understood as a stable support for everyday life, rather than as an object of representation.

The studio’s work has been widely published in national and international specialised media. Projects such as Casa Tres Patis have consolidated the recognition of Twobo Arquitectura within the contemporary Spanish architectural landscape, highlighting its ability to develop a serene, coherent architecture deeply connected to the experience of inhabiting.

Twobo Arquitectura maintains an open and reflective practice, where each project is approached as a new exercise in adjustment between place, programme and construction. An architecture that is not explained through discourse, but through its continued use and its relationship with those who inhabit it.

Project by Twobo Arquitectura