Josep Lluís Mateo’s Mateo Arquitectura delivered the MK Residence in 2023, a 225.8 m² family home on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Does complexity breed simplicity? Cost: undisclosed. Press release. The MK Residence is situated in a relatively sparsely populated, less touristic area of Mallorca. Geographically, it is bordered to the north by coastal regions facing the Tramuntana Mountains and to the south by a mountain range that gradually curves toward the sea. Between these boundaries, a plain encompasses both built-up and agricultural areas.
At the approximate center of the plain, a mid-19th-century agricultural facility was established on a clear, regular grid plan. This grid became the framework for the renovation. Standard plot sizes between adjacent walls measure 10 meters by 30 meters, making this a small parcel added to the urban whole. However, two features distinguish it: the grid’s edges open onto a protected landscape (recently declared a national park), and the site has three facades due to its lateral adjacency to a street, enhancing possibilities for interaction with the outside world. Visual connections to the exceptional landscape—sea, mountains, and fields—are central to the home’s design, evolving with changes in elevation. The MK Residence spans two floors (ground and upper levels), with a basement (primarily for technical equipment), a pitched roof (forming a service space), and terraces.
The ground floor contains common social spaces, accessible from the street via a large semi-enclosed area that mediates between public and private realms, usable for gatherings, storage, or potential parking. Interior spaces on the ground floor open fully to the outdoors—garden, swimming pool, and the first-tier landscape visible from ground level. A courtyard along the shared side wall introduces southern light. The upper floor houses bedrooms, also opening onto a terrace that offers alternative perspectives of the landscape. Finally, the roof provides elevated vistas to fully appreciate nature’s grandeur.
The house features a reinforced concrete load-bearing wall structure with thick exterior insulation and stucco finishes, anchored to the ground at varying wall heights. Floors are concrete; windows are aluminum; and sliding shutters are either aluminum or wood, depending on the facade. The MK Residence has three distinct facades:
Street-facing facade: Matches the scale and proportions of neighboring buildings.
Side street facade: Arranges a sequence of rooms and small spaces, creating a dialogue between windows, sliding shutters, and walls. A two-tone design integrates windows and shutters visually.
Countryside-facing facade: Features large openings and wooden sliding elements, fostering a more tactile, residential atmosphere by creating a continuous boundary between indoors and outdoors.
The resulting volume is a parallelepiped that recedes into the landscape, harmonizing with the vast surroundings.
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