Meet Francisco Robles, the architect and founder of Robles Diaz Arquitectos in Málaga, Marbella and Aymonte. Leading a team of six in-house staff, Francisco is renowned for his contemporary style, injected with the warm accents of natural materials. As a European Property Awards winner, his designs have grandeur and are typically large villas and luxurious homes in the Marbella and Málaga area but his portfolio also extends into Morocco.
Clients working with the Robles Diaz team can expect a bespoke service and exceptional treatment. The team strives to make a dream project come true and will work closely with the client to ensure a property that meets expectations and more. Their experience as architects on the Spanish coast has led them to design homes that are also solid investments.
Francisco Robles is the architect behind Arboleda Villas, the impressive contemporary urbanisation of 18 villas located near Benahavís.
What was the brief for the Arboleda Villas project?
“We were asked to prepare designs for the entire development. There were 18 plots with different aspects and views. The initial brief was given and the types of building required as well as the number of bedrooms each property should have.”
What excited you about this project?
“Firstly, the flexibility given by the developer. I could be freer with the design and overall deliver a more exciting architectural design. We created five different villas types, and in each type, each of the villas has small differences to adapt to the plot size, orientation and shape, producing almost 18 unique ones.
Working with Atlas Group was also a benefit as they were highly professional and paid attention to every detail.”
Tell us about the architecture.
“We created five villa types and there are small differences between each depending on the plot size and the location within the urbanisation. The overall architecture is contemporary but integrating organic materials to give warmer accents; laminated wood pergolas and sandstone cladding on the exterior walls.
All of the villas were carefully designed to make the most of the Andalusian weather, for example the swimming pools are in the best locations to take all the heat of the sun but the interior rooms are sheltered by pergolas or they have large floor to ceiling windows to let in the light. A large, open space was included in all the properties to allow the home owner to adapt it to their specific needs, as a fourth bedroom for example, or entertaining space. Each villa has a good energy rating of B/C, which has become more important to home owners.”