Let's plan your very personal project together!
We offer you the complete range of architect's work, beginning with the planning of restauration and modification of buildings up to completely new projects. Computerized 3D views give you an exact idea of the result right from the beginning of the development.
Of course we also realize the coverage and legalization of existing properties.
With us your building ambitions are in good hands! A sound education in Germany and many years of experience in Spain, as well as domination of the Spanish language and cooperation with local experts guarantee a smooth planning and building process, meeting the highest quality standards.
Speak to us without any compromise to get all the information you need.
The architect's studio Christian Zerbst is member of the official architect's professional associations of the Comunidad Valenciana region (COACV) and the Alicante province (CTAA). All documents issued by us are being validated by the association before they're being presented to any official institution like townhalls or notaries. This is an additional legal security for you as our customer.
We offer you the complete range of construction services, starting with the first sketches and all the way through to a turn-key finishing. We also offer services such as energy certificates, and the legalization of existing properties.
We work for many years in Spain. All our partners are from Altea and surroundings. We're at your side even after finishing your project, because your recommendation is our goal, and we make every effort to reach it.
From our Altea office we assist you geographically close, no matter if you build in Villajoyosa, Benidorm, Alfaz, Altea, La NucĂa, Calpe, Benissa, Moraira, Teulada, Javea or Denia. Don't look further, with us you enjoy all the benefits of a local provider!
Your architectural dreams are the center of our daily work. Only once the result makes you happy, we're satisfied with it, too.
For more than fifteen years now, our slogan "Happiness Architecture" represents happy customers and it would be a pleasure for us to continue our successful history with you.
A multilingual team from all disciplines related with building activities attends your project. With us you can discuss your building needs in your very own language and will have the right professional by your side to find the best solution. All our partners are registered members of the respective professional associations.
Christian Zerbst
Architect
Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de la Comunidad Valenciana
José Antonio Vives Bishop
Civil Engineer
Colegio Oficial de Aparejadores y Arquitectos Técnicos de Alicante
Jaime Alvado Juan
Ingeniero Civil
To cover a complete service far beyond architecture, we cooperate with competent partners from the Costa Blanca region.
Guido von Berg
Lawyer
Law firm von Berg & Partner Moraira
Marc Schaefer
Translator and document manager
IAESTA Multilingual Services Altea
Matthias Makow
Tax consultant
Krima Konsult Altea
A selection of our building projects
This extend villa combines several living areas and six bedrooms with a variety of covered exterior spaces due to several offsets in the main facade.
The interior blends into the exterior at all levels, which converts this project into the perfect home to enjoy the mediterranean lifestyle.
Designed for the easygoing family life, and at the same time ideal to welcome guests by the large infinity pool, or in the covered lounge and barbecue area.
Project in state of development.
In 2003 Christian Zerbst started his career as an architect in Ibiza, and with this 2023 development, twenty years later, he can finally bring some traditional style from Ibiza to the mainland.
Behind the traditional appearance of this villa with small windows, white surfaces, wooden elements and the typical rounded edges of the classical Ibiza house, there's a lot more to discover:
As any other contemporary project, it is stuffed with the latest technology and comfort for a unique and modern living experience.
Project in state of development.
Modern one-family house with three bedrooms.
Horizontal and vertical slabs stand out to compose a continuous constructive element which provides shadow for the generous glazing of the main facade.
From every room on every floor of this exceptional villa you can enjoy a magnificent and unobstructed view of Altea.
A two-floor one-family house with US-american and mediterranean design features.
This outstanding development combines the best of both worlds: US-american lifestyle with a generous driveway that leads to a main building composed from several geometrical volumes, rich in mediterranean nuances which blend in with the pleasing to the eye Costa Blanca landscape.
A large, deep blue tiled infinity pool surrounded by palm trees is the perfect companion for this very special villa.
Villa composed of stacked cubic volumes.
In this project, the building accommodates several identical bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and dressing rooms in their own cubes, which loosely joined together complement the double-level living and cooking area.
The facade contrasts dark natural stone with white rendering, accentuating the composition of individual structures. A concrete pergola provides shade for the generous living room glazing, thereby optimizing the energy balance.
Compact family villa, with two bedrooms on a plot with extremely steep inclination and spectacular views.
Following the wishes of the customer, the design has been kept very simple and the house has been developed in only one compact building volume. The main facade is nearly completely glazed and the partially covered terrace has an "infinity" pool with two-sided overflow.
Two floor villa with Z-sculptured structural elements and generous glazing on both floors to provide fantastic views from all through the house.
This villa combines classical and modern elements. The living space on top floor opens with a zig zag glass curtain seamlessly to the generous terrace with the large swimming pool.
This villa has a twisted shape to match the main angle of the sea view. The facade is a rich-in-contrasts combination of elements, shapes and materials.
Project in state of development.
Country house on an isolated plot, with a big covered terrace and a split-level designs which allows double height in the living-room area.
A combination of modern and classical materials completes the concept of a modern countryside-residence in a beautiful location.
Two floor villa with four bedrooms. The main facade has generous glazing in all rooms, responding to the excellent views of the plot.
A selection of our extension and renovation projects
This project is not just an extension, but a complete re-design of the existing property.
The dominant shapes of the covered terraces will be re-interpreted and the whole look of the building will be modernized.
All house installations will be substituted by state-of-the-art technology.
An existing villa had to be extended to gain space for two additional bedrooms.
We agreed with the owner to realize this extension as an individual building volume in an unused part of the garden, behind the existing main building.
As a consecuence of this separation the finished house has two individual areas for dormitories, one for the owners and one for their friends and visitors.
Respecting materials and lines of the existing building, but with some more modern shapes, we realized the extension with two floors, while the old one-floored-building got a new roof terrace instead of the original roof, which is accessible from the extension and connects the two parts optically and functionally.
Besides these aspects, the so far unused level which has been converted into a roof terrace, creates a worth mentioning additional value for the owners due to the new fantastic panorama views.
Before the intervention, the house had a big but nearly unused terrace on the upper floor. The mission was, to convert this terrace into a living space.
First of all, the perimetral roof has been removed, to extend the available surface right to the facade line. In a second step, the villa has been extended, following the style guidelines of the existing house.
The result is a new interior space with panoramic window, which fades to the exterior space without visual barriers. This result is being amplified by the use of identical floor material for interior and exterior surfaces.
Although the extension has been equipped with some modern elements, the overall view is very harmonic due to the strict observance of the style guidelines of the existing building also for the new part of the property.
An uninspiring and not inviting access to a villa has been remodeled completely by tearing down a carport and extending the building in that area.
Besides this intervention and based on the existing staircase, a tower has been added which ends in a copy of the emblematic Altea dome. That way the staircase which before the intervention was an unattractive side-volume of the building, has been converted into the center of attention and at the same time into the geometrical center of the villa.
The existing house has been extended in various ways but always in the same style to conserve the homogeneous impression of the total building.
The most outstanding intervention is the vertical extension of another floor in the area of the initially lowest roof. Instead of installing the same type
of roof again on top of the new floor, we decided for a roof terrace with fantastic panoramic views over the bay of Calpe.
Horizontally the house has been extended as well to adjust it better to the needs of the owners.
For this project we have been contacted by the owner of the building at an already very advanced state of the construction process.
The responsable architects who projected the building, violated several local building rules during the execution of the works which resulted in a forced stop of the works ordered by the townhall and in last consecuence the owner dismissed the architects and builders.
Our mission as new supervising architects was to reestablish the legality of the building by adjusting it to the laws, to negotiate with the townhall the permission to resume the works and to supervise the termination of the construction. Outside the building we coordinated the terracing of a stone wall which was too high and steep to fulfill the strict municipal building rules.
After finishing the works, we supported the owner during all the steps which were necessary for getting the final residential permit for this building.
Interior design, business facilities and exterior spaces
The owners of a villa in Altea contacted us for redesigning a basement space to be used as a gym.
The new climatization has been hidden inside a suspended ceiling which has been converted by LED lights into an eye-catcher of the new area.
The rooms of this clinic have been created on a floor which served for residential uses before. After breaking down all the interior walls, the area has been redistributed with Pladur plasterboard walls to house three consultation rooms, a toilet, the reception and the waiting area on only 60m².
Several extraordinary details in illumination, climatization and furniture design distiguish this project and give it a neat, clean and elegant atmosphere.
The driveway of a villa in Altea has been converted with the help of sun sails into a parking-lot with enough shadow.
Our office looked after the architectural concerns of a remodelation of an unused basement space into a beautiful leisure area with home cinema.
After changing the owner, a villa in Altea had to be set to a recent technical state.
We took out the complete existing pipes an cabling, and planned heating, electricity and water installations new from scratch.
A new kitchen and completely redesigned bathrooms are visible signs of this mostly invisible intervention. Including all the necessary carpenter and painter works, this project has been realized in only a month of execution time.
For the opening of a business in Spain, several steps are required: First you need to check if the planned activity is compatible with the local building and city developement plans. For this we made a first check and handed in the request for the townhall to verify the activity.
Once a positive reply has been received we proceeded to develope the projects for the adaptation of the commercial facilities and for the definite business permit.
We helped and adviced the owner during the whole time from the first check to the opening of his business in the renewed rooms.
We organize demolitions with heavy machinery or just hand tools, we make concept studies and we document and certify existing buildings.
To facilitate your start into your own project, we compiled a list with important Spanish building terminology, which you will have to deal with during a building measure or an administrative act concerning your property. This listing is not alphabetical but considers the order in which you will be confronted with the terms during the project. We are happy to give you personal advice if you have any further questions.
The exposed information is not a legal advice. If you need legal advice, please consult a lawyer.
Terms which are being mixed up most of the times. The Escritura is the notarially certified purchase contract, a Copia Simple is a copy of the Escritura on normal paper, while the Nota Simple is an extract from the land registry.
Many customers find out that the size of their plot is specified with different values in different papers. These deviations are usually being caused by the fact that the Catastro gets the values from measurements of air photographies and not from the official books of the land registry office.
Erroneously used synonymously in many cases. The IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles) is the spanish real estate tax. This tax is a city tax and has to be paid to the townhall. The SUMA is the authority which encashes city taxes for many townhalls in the Alicante province. Most townhalls require the recent IBI receipt if you apply for a building license, as a proof that the tax payer is up to date with his duties.
The most important value for the size of an existing or projected building. It doesn't refer to the living space but considres all the surface including the areas which are covered by walls and other construction elements, summarizing this value of all the floors. If the Superficie construida still seems to be too big, please consider that covered terraces count as well (mostly at 50% of their actual size), and that possibly there might be a share of the collective property included.
The "big" construction project. This classification applies to addition or modification of structural elements, and to interventions which increase the Superficie construida.
The "small" construction project. This classification applies to construction measurements which do not interfere with the structure and do not change the Superficie construida. The application for this type of license is simplified compared to the Obra Mayor, but it is obligatory for any works as small as they might be (e.g. changing tiles in your kitchen).
If you own a property in a block of flats or an urbanization which has a community association, you have to inform them already during the planning phase about type and extent of the works. Many townhalls require even a written permission of the community association for granting a building license.
The two main steps of a building project. Basically, the Proyecto Básico outlines the design and the compliance with the local building laws, whereas the Proyecto de Ejecución is the execution planning. Talking about projects of the size of a one family home, these two phases are usually being merged as Proyecto Básico y de Ejecución.
Seal of the association of architects that a project has been checked by them for correctness and integrity. For the execution planning of an Obra Mayor the Visado is obligatory, as well as for certificates issued by an architect for legal purposes. A voluntary Visado is possible on any architect's documents but due to the cost of it usually the involved parties resign.
The spanish value added tax (VAT), which usually is not included in any price estimate or company quote provided by the building company and the technicians, and which has to be added to all the prices.
Corresponds to the profession of a "civil engineer". In most Obra Mayor projects the intervention of an Aparejador as second construction supervisor (besides the architect) is obligatory.
Certificate of the correct execution of an installation. The Boletín will be issued by a licensed expert. Most reputable installation companies are entitled to issue Boletines. The corresponding Boletín is an obligatory document for the application for electricity, water or gas supply.
Do not hesitate to make an appointment with us, we're pleased to help you. Your inquiry doesn't cause any costs for you. We prepare you a quotation based on the individual characteristics of the mission, only once you accept this quotation, the following services will be charged according to the agreement.
Christian Zerbst
Camino Viejo de Alicante 25
03590 Altea
España
Please call for an appointment first, since the office is not always occupied. Thank you!
Internet www.zerbst.es
E-Mail christian@zerbst.es
Telephone (0034) 610.630.620
WhatsApp™ (0034) 610.630.620
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