Building in the countryside: don’t take the risk

3 months in prison, a fine of 1.080€ and complete demolition of the house. That’s the sentence a Spanish-Belgium couple received from the Spanish judge afer building a house in the countryside. It wasn’t even a traditional house; it was a timber house that was placed upon a concrete slab, but that could not make […]

End of “sun tax” in Spain could be near!

The much discussed “sun tax” in Spain, the so called “impuesto al sol”, could be near to its end. Untill now, owners of solar panels pay tax just for the fact of being connected to the electricity net. It’s generally considered a very discouraging measure to invest in clean energy. Recently, however, the complete political […]

Paul Draaijer invited professor in Taiwan and China

Paul Draaijer was invited as visiting professor at Da-Yeh University in Taiwan. During the spring semester he tought a course of Contemporary Architecture and lead a Design Studio for third grade students. In the Design Studio a project for a residential building for the old Taichung city centre was developed, respecting the old (Japanese) urban […]

Energy label for houses in Spain a fact!

Finally the energy label for buildings in Spain is a fact. The question we most hear is: “Which buildings must have the label?” And the answer basically is: new built, and existing buildings at the moment of sale or new rent that do not have a label yet. The exception are houses with an ocupation […]

Passivhaus in Spain

Our clients show a growing interest in energy-saving solutions for their house in Spain. The so-called Passivhaus sets the standard for savings up to 80-85% compared to traditional building! In the spanish climate, other than the north of Europe, technical solutions do not mainly aim at avoiding loss of heat during colder perios af the […]

Your house in Spain: invest now in energy-saving!

If you own a house in Spain, even when it is your second home, this might be the moment to invest in energy saving measures. For many houses built in Spain over the last thirty years, especially in the popular coastal areas, energy saving was not exactly a focus point. Logical; the climate was friendly […]

Easier to open your new business in Spain

In Spain, until recently opening a store or any other kind of business was quite a difficult matter, mainly due to the extreme burocracy that rules the country. However, aware of the necessity to make it much easier for entrepreneurs  to set up there store, restaurant, or whatsoever, finally things are changing. In most cases, […]

Turn-key retail projects for Crocs Europe

Over the last months we have managed several turn-key retail projects for the European branch of fashionable footwear firm Crocs. One month for preparation and another for building; we take care of permits, building contracts, logistics, supervision and budget control. The client has no other worries then to get the shoes there on time!

Energy label for existing buildings in Spain

As from 1st January, 2013, house owners are obliged to obtain an energy label when selling or renting their house. Quite similar as the energy label on your fridge, it expresses the level of energy efficiency of the house and is basically determined by the insulation values of facades and roof, as well as by […]

Survey and solutions for damp problems

For the Dutch owner of a ten year old house located within the northern coastal zone of Barcelona, which suffers from serious problems with humidity and condensation, we have realised an exhaustive survey on the origins of the problems and presented a series of solutions to resolve them. These kind of problems, that eventually might […]

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