àngels and inhar's apartment: comfort and simplicity
vora
Interior
/
Completed
We were asked to transform a big flat, built 10 years ago, that was in extremely good condition because it was never inhabited. However, the new inhabitants, a young couple, wanted to reform it to change the scale of it, turn it cozier, because it was overscaled for their needs and confort.
The refurbishment consisted on the transformation of the circulation spaces, the core of the house. The rest was kept as it was. We placed a succession of 4 lobbies, linked by low and narrow corridors. Systole and diastole. Each lobby is related to a type of use: the first is linked to service spaces (cellar, storage cabinet); the second, to the kitchen; the third, to the social zone (living room and bathroom); the last one, to the sleeping area.
The one linked to the living room has an open face towards it, built as a lattice. Geometrically it “bites” into one of the corners of the room, thus creating two spaces in it.
The lobbies are built in wood. Its perimeters are thick walls with different configurations on each side: blind panels, hidden closet doors, built-in shelves, etc ... They are built in a modular way, with a structure formed by 20mm thick slats of pine wood, which constitute a frame for each module, as well as the separation gaps (between modules, or between them and the floor). Surfaces are covered with three-ply plywood boards. All the doors are thick thresholds, and expression of the wooden walls thickness.
Artificial lighting reinforces the idea of systole-diastole between lobbies and corridors that communicate them: in the lobbies, a line of LEDs over the partitions, around the entire perimeter, creates an indirect, homogeneous lighting on the high ceiling. In the corridors, which are wanted darker, a line of LEDs is embedded in a corner of the ceiling, grazing light on one of the walls, more dramatic.
The house faces a huge, excessive terrace, which has been resized by a platform next to the apartment, framed by a wooden structure as awnings support, to generate a welcoming outdoor space of its own.
The refurbishment consisted on the transformation of the circulation spaces, the core of the house. The rest was kept as it was. We placed a succession of 4 lobbies, linked by low and narrow corridors. Systole and diastole. Each lobby is related to a type of use: the first is linked to service spaces (cellar, storage cabinet); the second, to the kitchen; the third, to the social zone (living room and bathroom); the last one, to the sleeping area.
barcelona
Espanya
private
02/2019
196 m2
vora (pere buil, toni riba)
zoí casimiro, alex etxeberría, quim olea
Obrallar
puigdellívol (woodwork)
adrià goula
Curriculum
vora is an architecture studio from Barcelona, lead by Pere Buil and Toni Riba (ETSAB, 2000). They work on building and urban design projects of different scales and typologies. They combine their professional work with teaching.
Their work has received several awards such as Frame 2020, Archmarathon 2014, City of Barcelona 2013, Arquitectura Plus 2011, Bonaplata 2007, and has been finalist or selected in several editions of FAD awards, ENOR, Spanish Biennal of Architecture (BEAU), European Biennial of Landscape Design and Arquia/Próxima. Their work has been exhibited in the Venice Biennale in the Catalan and Spanish Pavilions in 2014 and 2016. In may 2018 they opened their first monographic exhibition “Shared Identities”.
Their públic works with major recognition are the Can Ricart Sports Center in Barcelona, the Sant Francesc Boulevard in Vilafranca del Penedès, the Born Market Surrounding Area in Barcelona, the Domus Avinyó Site in Barcelona and the Doctor surgery in Paüls.
