Long before air conditioning, people around the Mediterranean knew how to keep a house cool. Thick stone walls, deep shutters, shaded courtyards and pale surfaces kept rooms comfortable even at the height of summer. The same principles still work today.
A house that stays cool on its own needs less equipment and less energy, and it is more pleasant to be in than a room with a unit blowing cold air into it. Below we explain which measures, from architecture to the work of our interior design studio on Mallorca, keep a home naturally cool.
The case for natural cooling
Comfort comes first. A room kept at temperature by mass, shade and moving air feels more even and healthier than one with cold draughts and dry conditioned air. Then there are running costs: anything that keeps the house cool by itself lowers its energy use for good. And there is the look of the place. Indoor units, outdoor compressors and cable trunking spoil a well-designed room, and a house that manages without them looks tidier and calmer.
Thermal mass: marès stone, thick walls and lime plaster
Mass is the most effective protection against heat. Heavy materials such as Mallorca's local marès sandstone, solid masonry and thick walls take up heat slowly during the day and only release it in the cool of the night. That keeps the rooms noticeably cooler than the air outside during the day.
Lime plaster adds to the effect. It is vapour-open, regulates humidity and feels cool to the touch. Traditional Mallorcan builders have relied on this combination of stone and lime for centuries, and it still works better than cooling equipment added later.
Pale surfaces that reflect sunlight
Dark surfaces absorb heat and pale ones reflect it. The Mediterranean habit of whitewashing houses has a basis in building physics. Pale facades, pale roofs and pale outdoor paving heat up far less. Indoors, too, pale walls and ceilings keep rooms cooler and make them feel calmer.
Shading: shutters, pergolas and overhangs
The most important rule is to stop the sun before it reaches the glass. External shading is many times more effective than internal blinds, because the heat never gets into the room.
The traditional Mallorcan shutters, the persianas, do this very well. They keep the sun out but let air and softened light through. Roof overhangs and loggias shade south-facing windows in high summer, when the sun is high, and let the lower winter sun in. Pergolas and awnings add shade where the building itself provides none.
Cross-ventilation and cooling the house at night
A house stays cool when air can move through it. Windows on opposite sides give cross-ventilation: warm air goes out and cooler air comes in. Night cooling is especially effective. If you air the house during the cool hours of the night and keep the rooms closed and shaded during the day, walls and floors store the night's coolness and give it back over the day.
A well-built Mediterranean house cools down at night and stays cool through the day because of it.
Courtyards, water and planting
The courtyard, the patio, is one of the oldest ways of dealing with heat around the Mediterranean. It brings light and air deep into the house while staying shaded and cool itself. Plants and a little water make it work better, for example a fountain, a basin or a planted corner in the shade: evaporation takes heat out of the air and noticeably cools the space around it. Climbing plants on the facade and trees in front of the windows also keep heat off the house.
Linen, cotton and wool instead of synthetics
Whether a room feels cool also depends on the fabrics that touch your skin. Linen, cotton and wool breathe, absorb moisture and feel cooler than synthetic fabrics, which trap heat. Linen curtains soften the light without warming the room, and a floor without a thick rug stays cooler underfoot.
Cool floors: stone and tiles
Stone floors, terracotta and ceramic tiles stay pleasantly cool even in hot weather, because they are part of the house's thermal mass. They take on the floor temperature, which in a well-shaded house is well below the air temperature. Walk barefoot in summer and you feel the difference between a cool stone floor and a warm timber or carpeted one straight away.
Insulation and green roofs
Good insulation works both ways: it keeps warmth in during winter and heat out during summer. The roof matters most, because that is where most of the summer heat gets in. Careful roof insulation, pale roof surfaces and, where possible, a green roof lower the temperature under the roof considerably and protect the rooms below.
Whether a house stays naturally cool depends on many decisions, and most of them are made at the planning stage. If you are building or renovating a house on Mallorca, we look at orientation, mass, shading and ventilation together. That way your home stays cool by itself even in high summer, and you do not need an air-conditioning unit spoiling the room.
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