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Architects: andrea + joan arquitectes
- Area: 188 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:José Hevia
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, McNeel
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Lead Architects: Andrea Capilla, Joan Martí
Text description provided by the architects. Transformation of an old house into a studio-house, which combines the domestic and the productive reality in a set of vertically connected spaces. The house is part of the historic center of Sant Feliu de Llobregat which is composed of narrow and deep plots, occupied by single-family homes between party walls whose protected facades build the characteristic image of the area.
The project highlights the resulting spaces from this building typology, guaranteeing the best interior lighting and ventilation conditions by demolishing certain existing horizontal structures. In this way, it is possible to perceive the house as the succession of double-height spaces connected diagonally. Part of the existing roof is demolished so a new terrace appears in the highest part of the house, that preserves an existing window that opens to the street. In order to guarantee maximum flexibility, so the house can adapt to its inhabitants' needs, each floor is divided into 3 spaces of similar proportions. A central nucleus that concentrates the facilities occupies the center of the house so that the rest of the spaces in contact with the facades are empty and free. The programmatic activities find their location in this spatial strategy that combines typological flexibility and vertical articulation. From the street to the sky. The workspace is located in the north on the first floor, facing the patio and visually connected to the street. From the entrance, the two-section staircase accompanies this ascending diagonal (towards the sky, through the arcades), which configures the productive dimension of the house, its most public face. From the street to the garden. On the ground floor, we find the domestic dimension of the house, which is organized around the kitchen. The transition from the street to the patio hierarchizes the degrees of privacy in this area.
The only spaces with the capacity to be independent rooms are the bedrooms. The structural strategy follows the original logic of the traditional constructive system, but with new materials. The original wood and brick structure loads on the bearing party walls, and the new floors are built with metallic structures that act in the same way. Vertical walls are painted white to guarantee the correct natural lighting and also to unify the different textures, existing and new. The materials that are used are inexpensive, easy-to-install, and low-maintenance. This project takes advantage of the virtues of a traditional architectural typology to fit a flexible home, which allows combining the domestic and productive environments of its users.
