The Valencian studio Viruta Lab captures the essence of the Valencian orchard in its forms, aromas and textures in this new terrace that dominates the city skyline. It’s a tribute to the tradition of field cultivation with natural materials and a central lemon tree. This new expansion area of the city is gradually shaping an architecture concentrated on vertical landmarks, in contrast to the green plots that still host the traditional field cultivation of its long-standing residents. 

In this setting, María Daroz and David Puerta, co-founders of the studio, have transformed an unremarkable terrace into an urban oasis with a Mediterranean essence. Located on the tenth floor of a newly constructed skyscraper, this terrace reinterprets the Valencian agricultural tradition through the creation of raised beds and planting areas, bringing textures and vegetation that evoke an elevated orchard.

The spatial proposal of this cozy urban garden is inspired by the old selfsustaining vegetable gardens and organic orchards visible from the terrace. This space reinvents the concept of a traditional orchard, decontextualizing the ground plane with terraces of varying heights that offer an elevated perspective from within the home.   

The garden beds, attached to the perimeter walls, allow for the cultivation of vegetation and fruit trees while creating level differences that add dynamism and spaciousness to the area.   The sense of smell, heightened by the scent of the lemon tree and aromatic plants, combined with the visual sense, creates an illusion of a serene Mediterraneanstyle oasis, elevating the orchard ten floors above this new metropolitan area.