Jorge Cao Abad's Villa Carolina Wins Roof Architecture Award

Villa Carolina, designed by architect Jorge Cao Abad, has won the Classic Range category at the II International Architecture Awards for Roofs Tejas Verea. Located in Figueiroa on a south-facing promontory overlooking the Ría de Ortigueira in Galicia, Spain, the house treats its roof as a fifth facade. The roof, made with curved clay tiles from Tejas Verea's Classic Range, becomes the primary architectural element for integrating into the landscape and the local vernacular. Cao Abad emphasized that the roof was a central concern from the early design phases, borrowing codes from traditional constructions in the area. The east and west gables rise to contain the roof visually, while north and south facades dissolve into prefabricated concrete pergolas supporting climbing vegetation. The roof's geometry also organizes the interior space, with structural beams modulating the living area and directing views toward the estuary. The project demonstrates how contemporary architecture can engage with rural contexts without mimicking vernacular forms, using scale, materiality, and topography to create continuity.