Located next to two ancient buildings and the entrance to the premise, the Peratallada garden is constituted of three different ground levels; two of them touching two different edifices of the castle, and another level incorporating the pool. A complex foundation to level out, we created elevated platforms over each ground level rather than doing any heavy construction work, following the principle that we should touch as little as possible of the original structure of Peratallada.

With the terrace surrounded by ancient architecture, we searched for a material as distinguished as the stones of the Peratallada walls. We concluded that we could only use stone, one of a similar tone and colour, as any other material would feel disrespectful to the heritage. The stone was found in a nearby construction site, which disposed of residues of Turkish stone from a previous project cut into different sized pieces.

Based on the various sizes, we catalogued each piece to create a grid that could fit the entire platformed terrace. This resulted in a pattern of different pieces of stone expanding over the Peratallada ground, as if it were a puzzle, with a border that never quite touched the sides of the premise, nor the ancient Acai tree standing right in the middle of it.

With Peratallada translating itself into “carved stone” in Catalan, it is history which defines the present for the castle grounds; two languages in conversation, a new one gradually coming to life.