House on a courtyard

Today, there is a demand for architecture with flexibility beyond the strictly functional. The domestic's capacity for mutation is what defines the contemporary house, understood as an accumulator of changing and indeterminate rituals. Thus, the dwelling must be able to accommodate both the planned and the unforeseen programme, imagining itself as a place of refuge, a leisure setting and even a work space.

 

Domestic scenarios

In response to these premises, the house is conceived as a container of multiple superimposed scenarios that allow maximum adaptability of use over time. An essential dwelling is imagined in which the serving elements are reduced to a minimum in favour of free, open and flexible served spaces - domestic scenarios. In short, the aim is for the house to maximise the opportunities for its inhabitants to live as they wish and not as the house imposes on them. To do this, the house is buried in the ground and at the same time raised above it, allowing the ground floor to be freed up. Thus, an intermediate open-covered area is generated for access to the dwelling, a large threshold that forms part of the courtyard into which the entire plot is transformed, understood as another room in the house.

The upper floors house a large multi-purpose living area and the bedrooms, while the ground floor houses a multi-functional work space linked to a generous English courtyard. Thus, on a plot of just over 220 m2 we managed to obtain a house of 250 m2 with associated outdoor spaces of another 250 m2.

 

Context and materiality

At the same time, the house is integrated into the neighbourhood in a subtle and natural way. Taking into account the immediate surroundings, it uses traditional materials predominant in the buildings of the area, but from a contemporary point of view.

It is committed to a rational and sincere construction, where the elements that make up the structure and the enclosures are shown in a clear and honest way, determining the materiality of the house. Thus, the ground floor is defined by the brick perimeter wall on which the house rests, which also serves as a support for the vines, ivy and jasmine that provide changing scents and colours throughout the year. On the upper levels, exposed brick is used as a structural material on the party walls to support the post-tensioned slabs that free the floors. Meanwhile, on the fronts, the brick wall is unfolded as it lacks its structural sense, being understood as a stratified façade that allows the interior to house the sliding larch wood joinery that forms the openings.

In terms of energy, the high thermal inertia of the complex, together with the natural ventilation and adjustable solar protection of all the rooms, together with the use of underfloor heating and cooling with aerothermal energy production, ensure both low energy demand and low energy consumption.