Casa Vinyet | CAVAA

This project basis is a house built in the mid-19th century in the old town of Vilanova i la Geltrú. It is a building between party walls that was executed in phases, as shown by the construction systems and structures used in the different floor slabs, and as reflected in municipal documents that record the construction of an additional floor, around 1931.

Starting from this base and although the houses transformation is global, the proposal focuses on modifying two main spaces: the living area on the ground floor and the studio in the attic.

On the ground floor, the mezzanine slab was removed to create a 4-meter high open space, characterized by a ceramic vault that covers the extension from party wall to party wall.

In the attic, the false ceiling was removed to reveal the rawness of the roof; composed of wooden beams and boards, solid bricks in the floor slabs, as well as the rammed earth and exposed brick walls of the party walls.

Two specific areas that the project aims to connect visually and physically, creating a gap of light that crosses the two central floor slabs of the house. A break in the light, interrupted by different wooden beams, but linking the different ages of the house.

Concerning materiality, the objective of the project is to highlight the elements and history of the house, so that this enhances the inhabited spaces. On the other hand, the new elements introduced in the rehabilitation are distanced from the existing ones, highlighting the process of accumulation of stages of housing.

On the ground floor, a wooden service box and a translucent metal staircase were added. In the attic, a white box without ceiling was also created to show the raw crowning of the house.

The intervention is seen as an open process integrating the existing elements but aiming to be open to future interventions.

The intervention as an open process that is structured with existing elements, but that is not closed to new interventions in the future.

Authors: CAVAA (Jordi Calbetó y Oriol Vañó).

Collaborators: Laura Gutiérrez, Anna Fontich y Federico Acetti, architects.

External collaborators: Eduard Simó, Structure.

Construction Manager: Build-it (Josep Massana).

Photography: Adrià Goula.

Promoter: ETICA RENOVA SL

Location: Vilanova i la Geltrú.

Inner Surface: 144 m²