Services
Experience and excellence in every project
About Me
A residential architecture studio working across Estepona
Alberto Serrano is an architect trained at the University of Granada and at L’École d’Architecture de Bretagne in Rennes, France, and a certified Passivhaus Designer accredited by the Passive House Institute. The studio designs private villas and family homes along the Costa del Sol, and works regularly in Estepona, Benahavís and the New Golden Mile.
Every project is drawn from scratch around the plot, its orientation and the way the family will actually live in the house. We handle the full process — feasibility study, design, technical documentation, the building licence file at Estepona town hall and site supervision — so you deal with the architect who drew your house at every stage.
OUR WORK IN ESTEPONA
Building in Estepona: plots, licences and timings
Estepona is not Marbella, and the difference matters more than most buyers expect. The municipality runs its own planning rules and its own technical office, so what a plot allows, how long the licence takes and which documents the file must contain are all decided locally. An architecture firm that works in Estepona regularly knows that; one that does not will learn at your expense.
Plot feasibility. Before any design work we confirm what the plot genuinely permits: buildable area, setbacks, maximum height and the conditions the local planning applies to that specific parcel. Two plots of the same size on the same street can permit very different houses. If you have not bought yet, this is the stage that prevents expensive mistakes, and it takes days rather than months.
The licence file. We prepare and submit the expediente to Estepona town hall and follow it through to concession. The single biggest lever on the timeline is the quality of the file presented the first time: a complete, technically correct submission avoids the rounds of observations that add months.
Where we work. Estepona town, the New Golden Mile, Cancelada, Selwo, El Paraiso and the plots inland towards Benahavís. We also work in Marbella as villa architects and across the wider Costa del Sol.
HOW WE WORK
A turnkey service, from the first sketch to the keys
Clients come to us for one of two reasons: either they want a bespoke house rather than a developer product, or they want one studio accountable for the whole process instead of coordinating five suppliers themselves.
Concept and design. We work through the brief, the orientation and the views, and produce a first design you can walk through in 3D. This is the stage where things should change — moving a wall now costs nothing, moving it on site costs a great deal.
Technical project. While the licence is processed we develop the full documentation: structure, installations, construction details and the bill of quantities that lets builders quote on identical terms. Without it, comparing quotes is guesswork.
Construction and supervision. We direct the works, visit the site at every milestone and check certifications before payments are released. We do not build: keeping the design and site supervision separate from the contractor means the person checking the work is not the person invoicing for it.
Energy performance. As a certified Passivhaus Designer, Alberto builds the envelope strategy into the design from the first sketch. On this coast the benefit shows up mainly in summer cooling, where a well-resolved house holds its temperature on a fraction of the energy a conventional villa needs.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about building in Estepona
A major works licence in Estepona commonly takes between six and twelve months from submission, and longer if the file comes back with observations. Estepona runs its own planning rules and its own technical office, so the timescale differs from Marbella or Benahavis. Submitting a complete, technically correct file the first time is the most reliable way to shorten it.
Yes, and we recommend it. We review the plot's classification and the conditions local planning applies to it, and tell you the real buildable area, the height limits and the setbacks. It is a short piece of work that regularly changes what a buyer is willing to pay, or whether they buy at all.
We cover the full process from the first sketch to the occupancy licence: feasibility, design, technical project, licence management and site supervision. We direct the construction but we do not build, so the studio checking the work is never the company invoicing for it.
Estepona town, the New Golden Mile, Cancelada, Selwo, El Paraiso and the plots inland towards Benahavis. We also work throughout Marbella, San Pedro de Alcantara and Sotogrande.
Yes. We work in English and Spanish, and we handle the planning process with Estepona town hall on your behalf. A large part of our work is for clients based outside Spain.
Beyond construction, budget for architect and engineering fees, the municipal works tax, the surveyor, the geotechnical study, service connections, landscaping and pool. Ask any builder for an itemised breakdown rather than a price per square metre: per-square-metre figures hide the decisions that move the total.