Stunning Spanish Home Built Around Transparent Rooftop Pool

When we think of a private home with a built-in pool, we don't usually picture it on the roof. But the Jellyfish House, located in Marbella on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, features just that. Wiel Arets Architects chose to cantilever the pool from here because neighboring buildings block its view onto the nearby sea. This solution means that the beach is always in sight while sunbathing or swimming.

The stunning infinity-edge pool faces southwest with the Sierra Bianca mountain range in the distance; its water also intertwines with the sea's horizon. Weighing over 66 tons, it has a glass-bottom floor and a panoramic window at the interior-facing edge. This allows for swimmers to look inside the house, and those using the kitchen to see who's in the pool.

A searing Spanish sun constantly filters through the pool's glass wall and floor, and it creates calming, turquoise reflections all over the white-concrete house. There are four storeys and five bedrooms located throughout, and the space is organized with two paths of circulation: a “fast” and “slow” set of stairs. While the fast set will take you directly to the pool, the other leads to the main living space as well as the guest bedrooms. All non-concrete walls are glazed meaning that light is constantly permeating the home.

The first floor features a sauna, steam bath, and the kitchen. A small service elevator will also move food and drink from here to any other level in the house, including the rooftop. With its open concept, the modern and luxurious dwelling blurs the boundaries between the inside and out.

Wiel Arets Architects website
via [This Isn't Happiness and Karmatrendz]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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