House Design: Types, Features & Buying Tips

Taking the 'Horizon House' designed by RCR Arquitectes as an example, the residential design type is a terrain-integrated house, with core features including horizontal datum control, double-sided spatial systems, semi-underground circulation cores, and landscape framing techniques.

1. Terrain-Integrated Design Positioning
The 'Horizon House' achieves spatial innovation through deep integration of architecture with the terrain. The building is embedded into the edge of the hillside, approximately 1.5 meters below the highest point of the site, with the bedroom level further sunken by 3 meters, creating a nested relationship with the volcanic valley landscape. This design not only minimizes disruption to the original terrain but also establishes visual continuity through the submerged building mass, making the architecture an extension of the landscape rather than an abrupt addition.

2. Horizontal Datum Spatial Control
The design uses the 'horizon' as the spatial height datum, determining sectional relationships through continuous horizontal lines and dark soil layers. The building's facade employs dark materials similar in tone to the surrounding soil, combined with horizontally extending lines, to weaken the vertical mass of the architecture and enhance visual unity with the terrain. This approach makes the building almost 'disappear' into the environment at a distance, with only subtle variations in horizontal openings hinting at the presence of space.

3. Functional Differentiation of Double-Sided Spaces

• Valley Viewing Side: Utilizes a Corten steel box structure with fully glazed ends to form an independent viewing unit. The glass curtain wall introduces landscapes such as distant mountains and pastures into the interior, while the heft of the steel box balances the lightness of the glass, preventing the space from losing stability due to extensive transparency.
• Backslope Functional Side: Extends through earth berms to create light courts, pools, and vegetated courtyards. The berms not only provide shelter but also filter light through vegetation, creating soft natural lighting conditions for private spaces like kitchens and bedrooms, while satisfying the need for close contact with nature.

4. Circulation Organization of the Semi-Underground Circulation Core
A semi-underground corridor running along the contour lines connects all functional spaces. The corridor's roof is covered with soil, with natural light introduced only through skylights, creating a cave-like tranquil atmosphere. This design maintains the privacy of individual rooms (e.g., bedrooms located at the end of the corridor) while promoting family interaction through the open layout of public areas (living room, dining-kitchen, porch), achieving a balance between 'dynamic' and 'static' circulation.

5. Visual Guidance of Landscape Framing
Framing windows are placed at the end of each path segment, transforming layered mountain ridges, pastures, and other volcanic landscape features into visual focal points. The window dimensions are precisely calculated to both limit the field of view to highlight specific landscapes and enhance the dramatic effect of the space through the 'picture frame' effect, turning the walking experience into a continuous landscape exhibition.

This case does not involve purchasing-related content, so information on 'Buying Tips' cannot be provided.