Casa Oinarri

Casa Oinarri is a minimalist residence located in Bilbao, Spain, designed by VERNE Arquitectura.
The Basque coast presents a particular challenge for domestic architecture – how to create shelter against Atlantic weather while maintaining connection to dramatic coastal views. VERNE Arquitectura’s response with Oinarri House centers on the impluvium, that ancient Roman courtyard designed to collect rainwater, reimagined here as a contemporary spatial strategy for bringing light and air into an otherwise fortified volume.

Oinarri translates to base or foundation in Basque, and the house does function as a kind of constructed geology – a limestone prism that reads as an extension of the rocky terrain rather than an imposition upon it. The architects specified Arival limestone for the exterior, worked with bush-hammered texture applied directly on site. This technique, where stone surfaces are struck repeatedly with a toothed hammer, creates a rough, non-reflective finish that absorbs rather than reflects coastal light. The decision to eliminate cornice details and emphasize the volume’s sharp edges reinforces the monolithic quality, making the house appear carved from a single quarried block.

The courtyard operates as an inverted facade – where the street-facing walls remain largely closed, the interior perimeter dissolves into floor-to-ceiling glazing. This creates what the architects describe as facing rooms, where the entrance hall and living room confront each other across the void, multiplying perceived depth. The spatial logic follows historical patio house typologies from Mediterranean and Islamic architecture, where domestic life organizes around a protected outdoor room rather than relating primarily to the street.

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