Six homes behind a renovated facade in Torrente by Carrau and Baviera

Project description by Teresa Carrau Carbonell y Eduard Baviera Llopez

The drawing board of this project was not exactly a blank sheet. We were faced with different challenges: a volume between medians that had to be reproduced as it was at the beginning, some owners who requested 6 homes where there were 4 before, a facade protected by Heritage that should not be demolished.

The distribution of the program as patio homes was the solution to these challenges. In each of the houses, the clear day area, is located around the light and ventilation of the patio. The necessary distributions serve as storage in houses of small dimensions.

Value items are recycled and their new location is reinterpreted. A few wooden doors are restored in the old ground floor that now serve as shutters for the bedrooms. The “healthy” hydraulic tiles are recycled and are repositioned in the very bright hall next to the current large format stoneware. The frontage is restored respecting its gaps and moldings and its color is updated to maximize light and give it a more contemporary character.

The new attic floor, touching the height of cornice allowed, becomes two studio houses. Here maximum spatial flexibility is required in the minimum habitable space. Bathroom and kitchen are concentrated in a completely gray core, leaving the white and bright space free to be freely used.