Description of project by Fernando Oíza
Preliminary
Cities need to consider what to do with the ground floors of residential buildings that were originally intended for commercial use. Radical changes in consumer habits have led to a crisis in local commerce. First, it was the competition of large shopping centres, and now online shopping channels are producing a progressive and unstoppable depopulation of businesses. The consequence of this is the increasing degradation of the urban scene.
But in this, an opportunity can be sensed to help alleviate a housing crisis, which is becoming endemic. Suddenly, an enormous amount of cubic meters built available in the consolidated city are being generated, therefore, they have all the services. It is responsible –and sustainable- to use them, which will be beneficial for the urban space, for the owners and the upper floors; but especially for the people who occupy these new homes.
Presentation
The starting place is located on the ground floor of a collective residential building built at the end of the last century, it has survived to this day intact, as it was after the property. It forms a block, consequently, the premises have a double orientation: to a patio and a riverside urban park on its main facade. A truly privileged situation, since it is added that it receives abundant sunlight.
The interior free height of the premises allows the construction of a mezzanine floor complying with the conventional habitability conditions. Although the municipal ordinances oblige them to be set back 3.0 m from the front of the facade. As a consequence of the creative interpretation of the standard, the proposal for the construction of terraces on the upper floor of the houses arises.
At the initiative of the authors - highly environmentally conscious - and with the approval of the developer, the new construction was conceived under criteria of almost zero consumption, combining bioclimatic design strategies with other highly energy-efficient construction; using wood as the practically unique material of the intervention.
Solution Adopted
The proposal starts from a positive interpretation of the starting conditions (construction and surroundings), adapting them to a contemporary way of life. The place is thought of as a “home”, not only in terms of comfort but also as an environment prepared to generate satisfaction for its inhabitants. Spaces conceived in a fundamentally phenomenological way adapted to specific conditions of use, solar incidence, the season of the year, time of day ... In this, wood plays a determining role.
The result of the distribution is a diaphanous ground floor in which access, living room, dining room and kitchen coexist in a single fluid space and a room with its corresponding bathroom. On the first floor, a room spatially connected by the staircase and one or two bedrooms, depending on the house, with a bathroom for use by the plant.
The high-floor rooms are extended into large terraces facing the patio and the park respectively. The latter is conceived as an outdoor room from which to enjoy the views of the river bank and take advantage of the evening sun, especially in the temperate months of the year. On the contrary, the opposite terrace - practically north facing - is an ideal space for use in summer as it is protected from solar radiation. Thanks to the setback of the enclosure on the upper floor, the rooms acquire privacy through this simple architectural gesture.
Technology and Construction
The contemporary character is applied in the design of the solution through Technology. However, it is precisely thanks to it that unconventional spatial concepts can be enjoyed with full environmental comfort within responsible energy consumption standards. The technique and materials developed by the industry that allows the control or fluency of the space at will is the necessary complement of the facilities to achieve the synthesis between the fluid space typical of Modern Architecture (indistinct and complicated environmental comfort) with the premodern, in which comfort together with the domestic scale are its main virtues.
Through the combination of a careful bioclimatic design, with a construction guided by criteria of almost zero energy consumption: a hermetic and highly insulated enclosure, free from thermal bridges, thermal comfort is ensured with a low heating demand (2.3 and 2.6 kW for each dwelling 100 and 120 useful m2 respectively).
Wood
The project fully relies on wood not only for its expressiveness but for its functional possibilities. Or even better because the sincerity inherent in the wooden construction perfectly synthesizes the functionality-expressiveness binomial. To the above we will add that wood is the only material that can be considered truly versatile since it can be used in a wide range of solutions: structures and floors, interior distribution, also interior and exterior cladding and carpentry, flooring, false ceilings and roofs.
A rehabilitation work of these characteristics demanded a constructive solution that would minimize the inconvenience of the construction phase. Wood is the ideal material for this type of intervention since it allows the semi-prefabrication in the workshop of the elements for their subsequent assembly on site. With the advantages of "dry construction": reduction of work times, consequently of the effects on the environment and the practical disappearance of the waste generated.
Conclusion
In summary, the aim has been to obtain the maximum performance of the existing construction: starting from a standard typology and program, to functionally and energetically condition an unused premises, using contemporary construction materials and techniques based on wood and its derivatives, in which the development of current ways of living is made possible.
