Architect:
Manuel Clavel Rojo
www.clavel-arquitectos.com
facebook: Clavel Arquitectos

Collaborators:
Diego Victoria, David Pérez, David Hernández

Photographer:
David Frutos Ruiz
www.davidfrutos.com

La rehabilitación se ha realizado sobre un ático preexistente afectado por una rígida normativa restrictiva que impedía modificar la ubicación de los muros. Como evolución de la distribución original cerrada con pasillos y habitaciones a uno y otro lado, planteamos un sistema de burbujas habitables que gracias al espacio que las rodea desdibujan los límites entre el interior y el exterior.

La intervención trata de evocar las sensaciones de una vivienda suburbana y trasladarlas al centro de la ciudad.

Se utilizaron pocos materiales con la mayor durabilidad posible. El medio exterior y el medio interior-exterior se terminan con vidrio blanco. Esta solución constructiva, aparentemente contradictoria con la creación de un sistema expositivo, resulta sin embargo muy adecuado al incluir un triple sistema de raíles para facilitar el montaje y desmontaje de los cuadros. El sistema de iluminación resuelve tres niveles de uso: la iluminación de balizamiento, el uso diario de la casa, y el sistema expositivo. Las burbujas incluyen distintas texturas y maderas en su interior, potenciando la idea de su funcionamiento independiente.

We were asked to refurbish an existing attic in the city center with no other requirement from the client than being able to display his personal collection of paintings. On the other side, we wanted to evoke the feelings of a suburban house and take them into the city.

The refurbishment was made on an existing attic that was affected by strict regulations that impeded to modify the alignment of the façade walls. So, as an evolution of the previous layout (very closed, with corridors and room on both sides), we proposed a system of habitable bubbles by covering and breaking the existing outer walls, that, thanks to the space that surround them, blur the boundaries between the inside and the outside. Each bubble host a different use: dining, living, main bedroom, children bedroom… while the space in between works as service and circulation.

We proposed a small number of materials, making sure that they were as durable as possible.
In this way, the bubble’s walls were cladded with opaque white glass. Apparently contradictory with the creation of an art display system, this constructive solution gets very suitable when integrating three lines of flush-mounted rails for hanging paintings. The floor that surrounds the bubbles, that means the terrace as well as the circulation spaces, is paved with long slabs of grey phyllite stone, while their interiors are finished in different solid wood flooring.

In the circulation spaces, these materials were complemented with a continuous perforated gypsum ceiling, in order to counteract the acoustic behavior of the glass.

Finally, we paid special attention to lighting, solving three different levels of use: daily use lighting, by downlights and recessed LED strips around the perimeter; art display lighting, by cardan spotlights; and signalizing lighting in the outside, by LED strips under the glass walls that make bubbles float at night.