The ground floor of the residence, designed by Jerez Arquitectos, is reorganized around the original central pine staircase, which is now encased in a white glass surface that integrates storage spaces and a secret passageway. On the upper floor, the removal of the dilapidated floor structure of the former attic allows for greater ceiling heights, while the creation of new openings transforms the stairwell into a skylight and a visual link between the various rooms.
In terms of construction, the house retains the form, colors, and arrangement of the original facade openings, while incorporating a new building envelope that includes a substantial layer of thermal insulation. Energy efficiency is further enhanced by an aerothermal system and underfloor heating, while the porch is constructed using a lightweight galvanized steel framework that regulates solar exposure and facilitates the home’s adaptation to the changing seasons.
CM2 House by Jerez Arquitectos. Photograph by Iñaki Bergera.
Project description by Jerez Arquitectos
The project restores a house located in a neighbourhood built in the 1940s by the OSH, and adapts it to contemporary living while recovering and reinterpreting its memory.
Externally, the house respectfully preserves the original form, colours, and layout of openings, but the whole covering incorporates a significant thickness of thermal insulation that, together with a new aerothermal system and underfloor heating, provides it with a great energy efficiency.
Some of the most unique existing elements, such as the grapevines, the wooden stairs, the sloping roof of the former attic, and the vaulted ceiling of a volume added to the original house decades later, are prominently incorporated into the new home. These diverse layers of time are not only reinterpreted in a contemporary way, both spatially and functionally, but also keep alive the memory of this place.
Thus, the old grapevines give rise to a new porch overlooking the southern garden. A lightweight galvanized steel structure creates a new place that bridges the interior and the exterior, regulating the light and temperature of the house according to the season and the needs of the occupants.
A white glass covering embraces the original central pinewood staircase, a storage space, and even a secret passage, freeing up the rest of the ground floor and generating multiple reflections and nuances depending on the movement and the climatic conditions. In this way, the exterior nature is brought into the house through our senses, while creating a flexible space that blurs the boundaries and can be used in multiple ways according to the needs.
The attic floor, in poor condition, is removed, allowing for a vertical expansion of the first-floor spaces. This also enables the original stairwell to become a skylight and visual connection between different areas of the house, thanks to the creation of several openings. Once again, space is created by emptying and removing what already existed.
