Domestic implant. UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio
25/09/2019.
[MAD] Spain
metalocus, CARLOS MOMBIELA
metalocus, CARLOS MOMBIELA
CumuloLimbo studio has made an intervention to an existing space in the ground floor of an apartment in Madrid. With the desire to add a new room and a limited budget, the living space has been radically reformed expanding its size by 50% and configuring new spaces in a unique way.
Under 3 key design principles: Light, Spatiality and Budgetary management, UpHouse shows how to achieve domestic comfort with limited means.
Under 3 key design principles: Light, Spatiality and Budgetary management, UpHouse shows how to achieve domestic comfort with limited means.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Photograph by Javier de Paz García.
Plans, elevation and axonometric drawing. UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Image courtesy of CumuloLimbo studio.
Section plan. UpHouse by CumuloLimbo studio. Image courtesy of CumuloLimbo studio.
CumuloLimbo studio decided to make a minimal operation, almost "surgical", to an existing 60 m² space. A light steel structure is built on top of the only closed room in the apartment, the restroom and a ladder is added allowing access to the new created upper floor. In consecuense, a double-height space emerges on each side, the largest in the form of a kitchen-dining room oriented East and another more private oriented West.
The flexible kitchen space opens to a small East-facing patio that receives morning light. These operations generate a bright domestic space, open towars the exterior but maintaining the privacy of a home.
The use of the materials reflects the duality of these spaces, seeking the luminosity in the most public spaces by employing the white color and its reflections while the most private areas are covered with recycled plywood. The industrialized materials redefine and update the sensitivity of the interior, representing the principles of low cost and the philosophy of recycling in interior design.
The flexible kitchen space opens to a small East-facing patio that receives morning light. These operations generate a bright domestic space, open towars the exterior but maintaining the privacy of a home.
The use of the materials reflects the duality of these spaces, seeking the luminosity in the most public spaces by employing the white color and its reflections while the most private areas are covered with recycled plywood. The industrialized materials redefine and update the sensitivity of the interior, representing the principles of low cost and the philosophy of recycling in interior design.
Description of project by CumuloLimbo studio
Light, low-cost and recycling in 60 m²
UPHouse is the tail of an implant, the introduction of a space of intimate scale into another space, which, within a domestic diagram, is exposed and social. The project adds 50% more area to the apartment by installing a light steel structure and a staircase that allows access to the new upper floor. To support this floor, six frames that would stabilize and distribute the weight, are located parallel to the walls and surrounding the central and only closed room of the house, the restroom. The new level is built on top of this central room of the apartment, leaving two double-height spaces in each side of it. One bigger and public in the east side and a smaller and more private one in the west side.
The new upper floor divides the apartment into two spaces, a private and a public function. The choice of materials for these two spaces reflects this duality. On one hand, in the private vaulted area the walls and doors are covered with recycled plywood (from old electronic equipment containers). On the other hand, white walls reflect light from the patio to fill the kitchen, living room and recreational space with light. The use of materials is minimized, avoiding unnecessary finishes.
The public area of the apartment, which includes the kitchen, has an open floor plan. This flexible space opens to a small east-oriented patio that gets morning light. As many ground-level apartments, the lack of light is one of the keystones of the proposal. In order to maximise natural light in the new upper level, a mirror-faced wood vault is built in the private side. Natural light is reflected and multiplied with a great visual effect.
More information
Architects
Collaborators
Locksmith.- Luis Hernández.
Client
Ladicarsa Instalaciones S.L.
Builder
Peñas&Ledesma Obras.
Surface
90 m²
Venue
C/ Servator, Canillas, Madrid. Spain
Photography
Natalia Matesanz, Cumulolimbo Studio
Natalia Matesanz Ventura, is the director of the Cumulolimbo Studio. Architect by the Escuela Superior de Alcalá de Henares in 2011. She was awarded a scholarship by the Spanish Ministry, she completed the Master of Advanced Architectural Projects at the Escuela de Arquitectura de Madrid, UPM in 2013, where she is currently doing her PhD in Architectural Projects.
Currently at the University of Berkeley, California, Natalia develops her project #SFqueerspatialities, granted by the Polytechnic University of Madrid. His research works position dissident construction practices originated in inter-personal relationships as an engine of urban innovation. Her articles have been published in different academic journals and his works on the spatiality of # Mayo68parisino exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018. Natalia has been the first prize and finalist of several international competitions as well as the Arquia New York 2018 research grant with his project #The Slum incubator, focused on the architectures of the community gardens of New York City.
She has worked for various architectural offices such as Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos, EAS Estudio Álvarez Sala, Carlos Arroyo Architects, Jaramillo & Kreisler Bau Obras, or Ángel Verdasco Arquitectos. Between 2010 and 2014 he collaborates with different Spanish groups such as Basurama, Pez Estudio, Zuloark and Paisaje Transversal in participatory urban projects. It is in fact one of the co-founders of the Campo de Cebada project, a collective urban project born in 2011 with a great impact on the dynamics of self-construction in Madrid.
From June 2013 to June 2016, he was working in the Department of Architecture Projects of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, in charge of coordinating the Final Career Projects of the school and its Master.
In September 2013, he founded the research magazine Displacements: an X’scape journal together with other colleagues in order to shorten the distances between the research field and the informal practices of the discipline. In the summer of 2014, he created and designed his current Espacio Ukraine office together with 12 other colleagues, and is currently carrying out his doctoral thesis supervised by Juan Miguel Hernández León and Federico Soriano Peláez (ETSAM).
Currently at the University of Berkeley, California, Natalia develops her project #SFqueerspatialities, granted by the Polytechnic University of Madrid. His research works position dissident construction practices originated in inter-personal relationships as an engine of urban innovation. Her articles have been published in different academic journals and his works on the spatiality of # Mayo68parisino exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018. Natalia has been the first prize and finalist of several international competitions as well as the Arquia New York 2018 research grant with his project #The Slum incubator, focused on the architectures of the community gardens of New York City.
She has worked for various architectural offices such as Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos, EAS Estudio Álvarez Sala, Carlos Arroyo Architects, Jaramillo & Kreisler Bau Obras, or Ángel Verdasco Arquitectos. Between 2010 and 2014 he collaborates with different Spanish groups such as Basurama, Pez Estudio, Zuloark and Paisaje Transversal in participatory urban projects. It is in fact one of the co-founders of the Campo de Cebada project, a collective urban project born in 2011 with a great impact on the dynamics of self-construction in Madrid.
From June 2013 to June 2016, he was working in the Department of Architecture Projects of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, in charge of coordinating the Final Career Projects of the school and its Master.
In September 2013, he founded the research magazine Displacements: an X’scape journal together with other colleagues in order to shorten the distances between the research field and the informal practices of the discipline. In the summer of 2014, he created and designed his current Espacio Ukraine office together with 12 other colleagues, and is currently carrying out his doctoral thesis supervised by Juan Miguel Hernández León and Federico Soriano Peláez (ETSAM).
