Earthworks: the first visible step of a house build
Earthworks bring the plot to the design levels and prepare the base for the foundations. The sequence, ground surprises and what to check as an owner.
View detailsBlog
Guides: House construction · Page 2
BCN YARD guides: House construction. 55 articles to help plan your project in Barcelona. Page 2.
A house’s foundations: what to expect at this stage
The engineer sets the foundation type from the soil data; the owner's job is to plan service entries early and keep records of what gets buried.
View details
A house’s concrete structure: the visible stages of the build
The frame goes up in a formwork, reinforcement and pour cycle on every floor; for the owner, the check before each pour is what matters most.
View details
Services before closing up walls: why the sequence matters
Services go in after the structure and partitions and before plaster, screed and tiles: gravity drainage first, bulky ducts next, flexible cabling last. Before closing, a walk-through with the owner.
View details
Roof waterproofing: a phase you cannot see but will notice
A roof does not leak in the middle but at junctions and wherever water ponds. What to check on each layer while it is still visible.
View details
Thermal insulation in a new house: what decisions shape it
A house's thermal performance is set by roof, facade, ground slab, thermal bridges and airtightness, all decided before the structure goes up.
View details
Exterior joinery for a house: what to compare before choosing
Windows are chosen on five things at once: frame, glass, opening type, resistance to the environment and installation. Compare the finished window at its real size, not the profile in a brochure.
View details
Facade cladding: what options exist and what they involve
The options: render (often on ETICS), stone, ceramic on a rainscreen, timber and panels. The site’s climate, the upkeep you accept and the insulation decide.
View details
Building a pool: the stages from shell to start-up
Seven stages of building a pool and what to check at each; the shell goes up fast, but the risks sit in waterproofing and services.
View details
Solar panels on a new house: what to consider before installing them
Solar for a new house is sized from future consumption and built into the design together with the roof, cable routes and the inverter location.
View details
Exterior landscaping for a house: what is decided after the build
Garden and paving come last, but levels, drainage and buried services are decided during the build. What cannot wait, and the order to do it all in.
View details
Home automation in a new house: what to decide before closing services
Before the walls close, lay the infrastructure: cables, conduit, power and a cabinet space. Devices and scenes can be chosen after you move in.
View detailsAcoustic insulation in a house: where it is actually decided
A quiet house comes from structural mass, floating floors, windows and where the plant goes, not from the finishes at the end.
View details
Final works certificate and habitability certificate for a new house
The certificado final de obra is signed by the site’s technical directors; the cédula de habitabilidad is issued by the authorities on the back of it. Without both, utilities, registration and sale get difficult.
View detailsMaintaining a new house during the first year
In year one a house dries out, settles and goes through every season for the first time. What to check, when, and how to log it so the warranty works.
View detailsChoosing a plot for your new house
A plot is bought on its paperwork, not the view from the street: what house you may build, how it connects to utilities and what it costs to prepare the land.
View details
Topographic and ground surveys: the difference
A topographic survey describes the surface, a geotechnical study the ground beneath. A house needs both, and the survey comes first.
View details
A room brief before designing your house
A room brief lists spaces with areas, relationships and priorities, and is written before any sketch so the layout fits the way you live.
View details
Orientation and shading in house design
Near Barcelona, main rooms and large glazing work best facing south under an overhang, while the west is protected with vertical and movable screens. The result is checked against real scenarios on the actual plot.
View details
Single or two-storey house: what to compare
Choosing between one and two floors starts with the plot parameters and an identical room brief. Where the real differences lie in daily life and in cost.
View detailsCoordinating architecture and interior design
Every interior decision has a point in construction after which changing it means redoing work; the decision schedule is set alongside the build schedule.
View details
Following the structural stage as a homeowner
During the structural stage, openings, service penetrations and supports for future systems get cast in. The client's job is to check their own decisions in time and leave structural judgement to the site direction team.
View details
House façades: decisions before the finish
Before colour and texture come the wall build-up, window positions, junctions, everything else that will sit on the facade, and municipal rules.
View details
Roof terraces: coordinating use and junctions
A roof terrace is designed from its uses; thresholds, drains, balustrades and services are resolved before any finish is chosen.
View details