The Truffle in Costa da Morte, Spain by Ensamble Studio.

You’d be forgiven for thinking this was natures way of providing the perfect man cave. Instead, it was very much man-made. And while it resembles the world’s most ideal hideaway, its inspiration was that of truffle, the legendary delicacy found under the earth.

Built on a site in Spain‘s Costa da Morte by Anton García-Abril of Ensamble Studio, and using some fairly unorthodox methods, a cow being just one of them, this truffle started out life as a simple hole in the ground. The soil dug from the pit was used to create the perimeter – a retaining wall. Inside the perimeter wall was filled with bales of hay, which once removed (the cow’s role) would become the internal spaces of the cave. They then flooded the hole to solidify the earth and poured concrete around the hay bales. Once the concrete had set they removed the soil, uncovering the ‘truffle’.

Inside the truffle was the hay. To get to the hay, Ensamble used a quarry machine to cut holes in the exterior to make doors and windows. Enter Pauline, the cow. Her job was to eat her way through the hay. She walked in a calf and staggered out a 300kg cow. Not a bad bovine effort.

Once the interior was exposed, the texture seen on the walls was incredibly cave-like. This effect was produced both from the hay and compression in areas due to the hydrostatic pressure of the concrete.

If the exquisite view from the cave wasn’t enough, what they’ve managed to fit into the small 25-square-metre space indeed is. There’s a gorgeous warm fireplace, a day bed that looks over the ocean, a hidden toilet and a shower space to die for.

Not only does the space camouflage with the natural environment but the light as it falls during the day plays with the textures on the walls producing a sublime effect. It is, no question, the perfect cave – man’s or otherwise.

Related: Stories On Design // Built Into Nature.

[Images & drawings courtesy of Ensamble Studio. Photography © Roland Halbe.]