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Architects: ariasrecalde taller de arquitectura
- Area: 384 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Javier Callejas Sevilla
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Manufacturers: Strugal, Cerámica Malpesa, Daikin, Porcelanosa Grupo
Text description provided by the architects. We took on this project in the understanding that there was a need to "manipulate" the building code applicable to "our" lot. This code established the construction of either a townhouse or a row house, with a back yard and a three meter set back from the street in order to create a unitary facade along the block. The existing homes adapt to these rules, the result being the repetitive planning of the same type of house.
Our clients, A&N, had other needs: they wanted a home that was well oriented, that offered certain spatial complexity and that had lots of light. They wanted to be able to use the open spaces produced by the setbacks that resulted from applying the code, and they also wanted these spaces to have spatial value. They also wanted the advantages of cross ventilating in every room.
The proposal is based on a relational, central, vertical axis that generates a foyer—a kind of inner courtyard within the house itself. Following that axis, the house is divided in two, with two bays on either side. These bays create setbacks in order to capture the light that comes in from the west. Most of the floor area ratio is used up by grouping the construction against the party wall. This frees up the rest of the lot, generates good access space to the garage and enables a generous amount of light to penetrate into each of the rooms.
Each of the rooms is associated with an independent volume or "cube". These are either set back or pulled outwards depending on their needs regarding natural light, shade or privacy. The materiality of the project takes on special importance, resolving the whole project with a single material, made of brick walls built with a Flemish or "Dutch" bond, which allows the movement, displacement or absence of the header brick, the wall becomes a rough plinth for the building or perforated lattice that allows the passage of light and reminds the vernacular constructions of dryers in the fertile plain of Granada. All the exterior paving, ramps and stairs are resolved with the same material, contributing to a monolithic image of the project.
