La Trufa

During this cold and gloomy time of the year, we often dream of a ‘little’ slice of paradise, preferably somewhere hot. This wish has been fulfilled and realised by the Spanish Ensamble Studio, when creating ‘La Trufa’ (the truffle), a small holiday house in Costa de Morte, in the north of Spain. Just like its namesake this tiny holiday home packs a sweet surprise, there is much more than meets the eye on this tiny abode.

The residence features only the bare necessities including a bed, sink, shower, and small kitchenette. The development process behind the Truffle House is truly amazing.

Carving out a hole within the Spanish hills, created the Truffles’ organic form. Once hollowed, the hole was refilled with stacked hay bails then topped up with concrete. After being left to age and going unseen within the ground, the Truffle was unearthed.

For the next stage in its transformation, the Ensamble Studio team formed an unusual alliance when transforming the rough concrete structure into a home. When it came to empting the straw interior, a calf called Paulina was the woman for the job. Once she had eaten the interior volume, the internal space appeared for the first time.

From then Ensamble transformed this blank shell into a simply stunning piece of architecture, with its method of construction being at its very heart.