Guillem Carrera develops in Casa ON an architecture that merges with its surroundings, offering well-being, intimacy and harmony

At the southern edge of the Blancafort residential development, just one kilometre from the city centre of Reus, Casa ON by architect Guillem Carrera emerges as a sensitive response to constraints. To the physical limits of a trapezoidal plot and to the regulatory limits of urban planning, the house reconciles domestic and professional life, architecture and landscape.

Conceived as a single-family home with an integrated professional practice, Casa ON begins from a peripheral condition: a plot bordering unbuilt land, open to greenery, crops and the distant horizon. This exceptional setting allows the project to establish a direct visual dialogue with the surrounding landscape, while simultaneously defining a strategy of privacy toward the more consolidated urban fabric.

The building’s volume is shaped by a clear idea: containment toward the street and neighbouring properties, openness toward the landscape. Two façades are discreet and opaque, with only the necessary openings; the other two, facing southeast and southwest, are sculpted to frame views of the natural surroundings. Patios, overhangs and passive solar strategies are integrated to maximise energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.

On the ground floor, the programme is distributed among the day area, the professional office, a guest room and the garage. Each space connects independently to the garden, preserving functional autonomy without sacrificing spatial continuity.

The upper floor houses the night area, organised into four bedrooms, each with its own orientation and view. A main terrace and a second rooftop terrace complete the experience, offering open vistas towards the coastal mountain range.

The staircase becomes the vertical heart of the project: a carefully positioned piece that defines the interior character while optimising the circulation layout. As in other works by Carrera, structural logic coexists with a poetics of experience—where the technical never excludes the sensorial.

The house is built using a mixed structure of concrete and steel, without altering the original topography. Externally, the use of lime mortar, wood and steel establishes a natural link with the surroundings and with traditional building methods. In the outdoor areas, the intervention is minimal: hardscaping is limited to the immediate perimeter of the house, while the rest is dedicated to gardens and vegetable plots.

The interior of the home evokes a sensitive, tactile atmosphere, with wood as the unifying element—used for wall and floor finishes, doors, steps, lighting fixtures and furniture. Every detail contributes to dissolving boundaries between interior and exterior, between architecture and nature.

Above all, Casa ON is an architecture for living well—welcoming, attentive to place, shaped with humility and precision. Through a meticulous study of orientation, cross-ventilation, solar gain, the thermal performance of its envelope, and the use of high-efficiency technologies, the house has achieved an A energy rating. Yet beyond the numbers, what endures is its capacity to offer well-being, intimacy and harmony.

Project: Casa ON.
Architect: Guillem Carrera.
Technical architect: Albert Pons.

Location: Reus, Tarragona.
Completion: 2023.
Surface area: 278 m².
Photography: Adrià Goula.
Structure: Windmill Structural Consultants.
Energy and systems: Zero Consulting (Ecotec Enginyers SLP).
Topography: Topland Topografía.
Geotechnical studies: Geotec Estudis Geotècnics i Mediambientals.
Collaborators: Mireia Pla, Tamara Carballal, Mònica López, Meritxell Anglès
Builder: JPCP El Fornàs.
Materials and furnishings: Serralleria Manser, Nou Concepte Interiors, Luxiform Il·luminació, Oficrea, Metàlics Aleix, Blau Pools Reus.

Guillem Carrera: architecture that listens to place

Born in Tarragona in 1979, Guillem Carrera graduated in 2004 from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB-UPC), where he completed a final project focused on a leisure centre in Hellinikon, Athens. During his studies, he took part in international workshops in Italy and Spain—experiences that helped shape his sensitivity to context and human scale.

In 2005, he established his own studio in Tarragona. Since then, his practice has spanned architecture, urban planning, landscape design, interior design, restoration and rehabilitation. His approach is defined by meticulous attention to materiality, light and the relationship with the surrounding environment—always seeking an architecture that engages in dialogue with its setting and enhances the lives of its inhabitants.

Carrera’s work has been recognised on numerous occasions, receiving awards such as the Architecture MasterPrize (2020, 2021, 2022), the Architizer A+ Awards (2021), and the Best Project Archilovers award (2019, 2021). His projects have been featured in national and international publications and platforms, and he has been invited to speak at institutions including the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia and the Barcelona School of Architecture La Salle (URL).

Among his most notable works are Casa 22 Avellaners, Casa d’en Jaume and the restoration of Ca Marcelo—projects that exemplify his commitment to a context-sensitive, sustainable and spatially rich architecture.

For Carrera, architecture is a tool to create spaces that foster well-being and connection to place. His work reflects a continuous pursuit of balance between functionality, aesthetics and respect for the environment, establishing a career marked by coherence and a deep commitment to the essential values of the discipline.

Source: Guillem Carrera Arquitecte.

Project by Guillem Carrera