Estudio Ale has designed the renovation project of the Green Box house, in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, to reduce energy consumption as much as possible and optimize resources to achieve sustainable comfort.

To achieve this purpose, the structuring of the house has been based on promoting natural cross ventilation and the maximum entry of natural light from the exterior facades.
Originally, the living room and the master bedroom were oriented to the north, with little clarity, and wasting the possibilities of the 200 m² of the total area of the apartment.

Ale Estudio decided to redefine, practically complete, the global program of what the new plan would be, grouping around a large central box, located in the darkest area, the rest of the rooms and uses.
 

Description of project by Ale Estudio

When Rafa and Marisa came to our studio to ask us to help them with the renovation of the house they had just acquired in an urbanization on the outskirts of Madrid, they explained to us what the home they wanted to live was like. They thought of an efficient and sustainable house, where there would be plenty of natural light and the rooms were open and clear to be able to welcome their daughters and grandchildren comfortably.

One of the main drawbacks to their new home was precisely the lack of natural light, due, among other things, to the fact that the living room and the master bedroom were oriented to the north. Regarding the distribution, very conventional, it was organized into four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen, which were communicated by an intricate corridor.

After studying all the possibilities, we decided to almost completely redefine the original program of the house with the aim of making the most of the entire space and enhancing the entry of natural light from the two facades: we demolished the partition, we widened the gap in the facade North in the living room, we omitted one of the bedrooms and eliminated one of the bathrooms to leave only two, but much more spacious. With the new distribution, the living-dining room and the kitchen are now separated from the private area by a large distributor-dressing room that also receives light from both facades through the bedroom doors, which reach the ceiling.

The most unique element, and that characterizes the project from the aesthetic and formal points of view, is the large central box that, strategically, we have located in the darkest area of ​​the house. This large piece of furniture fulfills a double function: on the one hand, it organizes circulation between common and private areas, and, on the other, solves storage problems: on the side facing the distributor it works as a dressing area and on the that overlooks the living-dining room, like a library and study destined to house the hundreds of books and CDs that this couple of art scholars and music lovers have. The color green was a studio proposal that the owners loved because it reminds them of their childhood years. As for the flooring, it is made of natural oak wood.

Sustainability is always present in our work. One of our main objectives is to think about how to reduce energy consumption and optimize resources to achieve sustainable comfort. To do this, among others, we have taken measures such as avoiding using air conditioning systems and replacing them with other natural cross ventilation, which is made possible thanks to the use of mobile interior carpentry, such as those that connect the living room and the kitchen.

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Project team
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María Bonilla. María Frutos.
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Area
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200 sqm.
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Dates
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2020.
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Location
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Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain.
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ALE Estudio (Arquitectura Libre y Ética) was founded by Alegría Zorrilla in Madrid, in 2019. The founder has been promoting and developing architectural projects since 2007, in search of resolute solutions, from the deep respect for the environment and the social and physical integration in the environment.

In ALE study, the most suitable construction techniques are re-considered for each project, proposing innovative solutions and recovering systems of vernacular architecture. Focusing work on equipment, residential and rehabilitation projects and betting on collaborative housing projects (co-housing) that are considered a sustainable solution for the present and future of cities.

Alegría Zorrilla, is an architect from Escuela Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM) in 2003, completing her training at the University of La Sapienza, in Rome in the year 2000. She completed the official Master in Advanced Architectural Projects of the ETSAM in 2009, collaborating with the ARKRIT Architectural Criticism Research Group. 

Before starting to work on his own, she collaborates for five years with the architects Álvaro Soto and Javier Maroto and for two years with Node 17 (Manuel Pérez) in Madrid. Between 2011 and 2018 she founded the azootea studio in the company of Berta González. Co-winner of the international contest for the Infant School of the French Lyceum in Madrid, selected for the CSAE 2021 awards. She is also part of the winning team of the contest in the second call Reinventing Cities. for the rehabilitation of the old Clesa factory.

Awards:
2020.- First prize in the international competition organized by C40, Reinventing Cities for the rehabilitation of the Clesa Factory in Madrid.
2015.- 1st Prize: International competition for the new Escuela Infantil and outdoor spaces for the Liceo Francés of Madrid and the Agencia para la Educación en el Extranjero (AEFE).
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Published on: March 29, 2021
Cite: "Renovation on the outskirts of Madrid. Green Box House by Ale Estudio" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/renovation-outskirts-madrid-green-box-house-ale-estudio> ISSN 1139-6415
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