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Architects: Pachon-Paredes
- Area: 140 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Luis Asín
Text description provided by the architects. A SMALLER SPLASH is a space that works with WATER and AIR as the main materials of design: space, time, matter, and energy design. After the covid-19 lockdown, we are commissioned by a domestic community in the center of Madrid to transform their underground level and upgrade their energy systems. They established two main goals: the need for a space for body wellness through physical activity and meditation; and an energetic upgrade of their building facilities; aiming to be totally isolated from sounds, smells, and condensation from the rest of the domestic levels.
The project is structured through 3 strategies concerning air and water: THE SPACE - Function and energy. Considering the architectural and technical context and the urgent need for sectoring, the thermodynamics of the space becomes a fundamental design tool.
The space is reorganized and simplified to free up the floor plan completely, achieving a longitudinal liquid space, which allows a chain of rooms and a programmatic organization according to the levels of humidity, temperature, pressure, and use intensity. In this way, high-humidity-related activities are located at both ends (pool and spa), while those with lower humidity and higher thermodynamic control capacity are located in between as "thermodynamic buffer" zones.
The Perimeter, Boundary, and Container. The perimeter and shell of the space act not only as an air and water container but also as an energy facility and cabinet container. Thus, depending on the needs and morphology of each room, the border is formalized as an insulator, linear machine room, duct space, sports-material cabinets, or even secondary annexed functions (sauna, bathroom, etc...).
Both ends of the boundary are curved to promote the related purposes while generating areas of opportunity to contain the larger machines. The main surface material, a white waterproof stoneware, allows it to adapt to all curved and sinuous surfaces, working smoothly with air and water, and multiplying the zenithal light from the skylight that connects with the patio. The color, materiality, geometry, and light treatments turn the space into a neutral, free-of-use, space for evasion.
The filters, spatial, function, and air membranes. The constructive design of the divisions between rooms responds to a sequential organization of uses and light and a filtering criterion between them.
This "filter strategy" generates closures/doors that range from hermetic to membrane with different details, textures, and materials. Apart from hierarchizing the program, these space separators allow the optimization of the various air exchange systems: the unit that dehumidifies and air-conditions the pool, or the mechanical ventilation system that extracts air from inside the sectors and ejects it from the outside filtered by a heat exchanger.
