For forty years the JEC family has been growing their “mas” (Catalan country home) from a basic 45m2-square structure to a sprawling space of out-buildings: mostly built by the watchmaker grandfather.

Mas JEC has been in a perpetual state of construction for forty years, since the JEC family purchased it and “grandfather”, a watchmaker by trade, began adding outbuildings to the basic 45m2 home.

When grandpa died, the next generation wanted to move in with their daughter so they turned to architects Aixopluc – David Tapias and Ricard Pau – to adapt the home to their their family both now and as they aged.

The architects created a light-on-the-land CNC-cut prefab structure using CLT (cross laminated timber) panels fabricated in the local Pyrenees region. Designing it to float on the land and with a detached roof, the wooden home is surrounded by a cushion of air for natural climate control.