Jordi Hidalgo Tané Builds Prefab Pavilion Around Centuries-Old Cedar in Girona

Spanish architect Jordi Hidalgo Tané has completed the Prefab Pavilion Facing a Centuries-Old Cedar in Olot, Girona, Spain (2021). The 120-square-metre residential pavilion was designed under three constraints: municipal regulation fixed its position and volume, a geobiological study determined internal configuration and openings, and time and budget limitations dictated the construction system. Hidalgo Tané used prefabricated concrete panels borrowed from adjacent industrial park warehouses, adapting them to domestic scale and finish. The centuries-old cedar tree serves as the building's orientation device, with a full-width window and skylight framing the tree. The pavilion was manufactured off-site over six months, assembled in five days, and occupied three months later. The €150,000 budget resulted in a fireplace, polished concrete floor, precise blind system, and rooflight geometry. The project connects to broader trends in prefab residential architecture, similar to Casa 144 by Jaime Prous Architects and Pineda Monedero, and Casa GA by Archiplanstudio. Hidalgo Tané accepted the geobiological study as a non-negotiable constraint, demonstrating that constraint can generate resolved architecture.