OHLAB Cuts a Sun-Tracking Óculo into a Flat Roof for a Lime-Walled House in Palma

Casa Óculo sits in a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Palma, on a plot that slopes south toward the mountains. The house, completed in 2025 by OHLAB, the Mallorca studio led by Paloma Hernáiz and Jaime Oliver, covers 572 m² under a single flat roof. That roof runs east to west and rests on a series of lime-rendered load-bearing walls that run north to south. The diagram is simple enough to draw on a napkin. It is also the kind of simplicity that is hard to build well.

What makes the project worth your attention is one hole in that roof. Above the main terrace, OHLAB cut a circular opening shaped as an oblique, eccentric truncated cone. It is not a decorative skylight. The cone is angled so that low winter sun reaches deep into the living spaces and warms the stone floors, while high summer sun lands mostly on the terrace outside. The architects call the house a small manifesto of contemporary Mediterranean living, and in this case the claim rests on climate rather than on looks.

One Roof, One Opening

From the pool, the house reads as a dark horizontal plane hovering over a row of piers, with the óculo punched through its edge. The pool sits on a lower platform facing south to catch as much sun as possible, so you see the roof slightly from below. From that angle the slab looks thinner and the opening looks more deliberate.

At dusk the logic flips. Lit from within, the pavilion becomes a lantern and the óculo turns into a ring of light reflected in the still water. We like that the most important environmental device in the house is also its clearest image. Nothing had to be added to make it legible.

Walls That Shield and Frame

The north-south walls do three jobs at once. They carry the roof, they block views to and from the neighboring plots on either side, and they aim long framed views south toward the mountains. In a suburban setting, where the neighbors are close and the good view runs in one direction, this is a sensible way to organize a house. The walls give the plan its rhythm and give the facade its depth.

The roof runs past the enclosed rooms to form deep perimeter porches, so the line between inside and outside becomes a band of shade rather than a pane of glass. Below, local marés stone shapes the garden terraces, and native planting changes with the seasons and blends into the hillside beyond. The landscape does not stop at a property line. It continues the character of the mountains the house looks toward.

Living Under the Cone

The covered terrace is where the óculo shows what it can do. Sunlight drops through the cone and draws a moving curve across the lime-plastered wall, a sundial you can sit under. Because the cone is eccentric, the patch of light shifts in shape and position over the day and across the year, so the room is never quite the same twice.

Inside, the living area opens straight onto this terrace, and a sheer curtain is the only layer between them on a warm day. The recessed fireplace and the winter sun reaching the stone floor cover the cold months. It is a short list of tools, used with discipline.

Kitchen, Table and Texture

The kitchen island faces a timber dining table, and beyond the glazing the cypress and pine hills fill the frame. The materials stay few: lime mortar walls, stone floors, wood joinery and natural brass details. Brass shows up in the linear pendant over the table and in small touches such as the switch plates along the corridor.

The lime finish matters for more than looks. It is breathable and hygroscopic, taking on and giving back moisture, which helps keep indoor comfort steady without mechanical systems. It will also patina over time. OHLAB clearly designed for that aging rather than against it, and the rough, hand-worked surfaces will only get better as they weather.

Baths in Daylight

The bathrooms follow the same plain approach. A floating wood vanity, warm metal fittings and a glass screen lead to a freestanding tub set against the cypresses outside. The plaster wall, with a recessed niche, does most of the work, and soft daylight keeps the room calm.

Bedrooms Held by Thick Walls

In the bedrooms the textured walls come close, and the lighting is small and specific: a cone pendant, a brass reading lamp, a floor lamp with two glowing globes. The client brought a structured, well-defined program, and you can feel it here. These rooms are private and enclosed, a deliberate contrast to the open, porch-wrapped living spaces.

Plans and Drawings

The plan shows the parallel walls clearly. They divide a bedroom wing from the living areas and run toward the pool and garden, with parking kept to one side. The section explains how the house settles into the slope, with the flat roof held level and the pool dropping to the lower platform. The elevation shows the stone base and the steady run of glazed bays between the piers.

The exploded axonometric separates deck, sliding wooden panels and walls, which shows how the porches can be closed or opened. The most useful drawing is the solar diagram, which traces sun rays through the óculo month by month. It turns the concept into something you can check. Winter light reaches deep inside, summer light stays on the terrace.

Why This Project Matters

Mediterranean architecture is often reduced to a palette: white walls, stone, timber, arches if the budget allows. Casa Óculo argues that the region's real inheritance is climatic. Orientation, overhangs, thermal mass and breathable finishes come first, and the image follows. OHLAB treats lime and marés as working materials, not as signs of local identity, and that is the more useful lesson.

The óculo is also a reminder that one precise geometric decision can carry a whole house. An angled cone in a flat roof manages seasonal heat, choreographs light and gives the building its name and silhouette. For architects working in warm climates, the takeaway is to pick the device carefully and design it in full, rather than adding a stack of systems later to fix what orientation should have solved.

Casa Óculo by OHLAB (Paloma Hernáiz and Jaime Oliver). Palma, Spain. 572 m². Completed 2025. Photography by José Hevia.

About the Studio

Share Your Own Work on uni.xyz

If projects like this are the kind of work you want to make, uni.xyz is a place to publish your own, find collaborators, and enter design competitions.