Pinazo 19
The starting point of the project is a house full of doors and compartmentalised rooms which designs an uncountable and dark interior, not allowing a proper cross ventilation system.The house with its original layout from the eighties has been owned by different people over time, however, it does not fit with the needs of Vane and Dídac and their two cats.
.
They need, without architectural intervention whatsoever in their rooms, the housing to break with its rigidity and to turn into a comfy place where friends can be gathered whilst the cats can watch them from high above.
.
Finding a place for bicycle storage is both the challenge and the central axis which structures the project. Its dimension and location allows them to organise their life and activities within the space without interrupting it. By means of additions in the shape of shelves or a seat a piece of furniture where daily life activities take place is built. It defines the entrance as well as the hall and also works as a trunk and somewhere to take your shoes off when arriving home. It complements the kitchen storage, allows them to have some privacy and moreover helps hiding the bicycles. This device later becomes a piece of furniture which shapes the space and complements the uses around it.
.
The fact that this device does not reach the ceiling, except for the existing downspout, emphasises both the visual and the spatial connection between the rooms. The daylight zone can be seen as the only end-to-end space. This optimised volume improves light and ventilation conditions on the housing facade.
The curve shaped false ceiling defines different heights guiding us through the use-space relationship. In the same way, both material aspects of the floor engage in dialogue with the shape of the piece of furniture, emphasising the kitchen-entrance hall-living room connection. Floor and ceiling configure the space by creating a geometrical design which can whether contracts or expands the area.
.
A 48 cm high baseboard becomes a unifying element enabling the spatial configuration. The baseboard material may vary depending on the location. In the kitchen, the same tiling can be found both in the floor and around the piece of furniture creating the base of the sitting area. In the storage area, the oak wood furniture extends from the higher doors to the laundry area. The steel doors dividing the dining room also have opaque elements which contribute to the creation of a continuous enclosure.
.
The kitchen becomes the center of operations and social gathering. A central island dedicated to work and leisure, next to the custom-made piece of furniture which splits the space creating two different atmospheres. On one hand, the kitchen itself featuring oak finishes, meets all Vane’s culinary needs. On the other hand, a more open and connected to the dinning room area includes a longitudinal storage space. It features a different solution such as a strip shaped handle which emphasises the rhythm, extending it to the entrance and therefore unifying the space. The lower part of this element can be used as somewhere to sit, as a piece of furniture and also as somewhere for the cats, the other protagonist of the house, to hide in.
.
The structure of this part can be seen at the doors of the living room as well, unifying the space due to the rhythm and the meeting of both materiales and visuals at the very center of the door. A mirror placed over the sitting area draws a full circle in the reflection, which works as a formal tribute among the different elements of the project. In the same way, the handlers complete the shape of this very circle when being closed. These doors can be fully open creating a single space dominated by light and reflections.
.
On the other hand, the bathroom detaches itself from the rest of the house by featuring a different colour and size tiling. Small white pieces can be found up to the glass screen and mirror height. This is where the the pieces happen to be bigger and green in colour creating a more relaxed and contrasted interior.
