Due to a neglected original state, which affected the structural stability of the house, the new frames introduced around these three big windows also act as metallic structural frames which contribute to the regained stiffness of the whole, also visually framing the new windows against the old brick fabric. The house has a small front garden but outdoor living is focused onto the backyard wooden Iroco-floor terrace and patio, north orientated and thus cool during the summer months.
Enlargement volumes are finished in black stucco in an inversion of the usual hierarchy (in which that which is added is “lighter” than the existing), whereas here a new unity is achieved in a balance of “weights” unified by the sameness of the three main openings.
Project: Refurbishment and extension of a 1930's house
Status: Built (2011-12)
Client: Private
Location: El Viso, Madrid
Team: Jacobo García-Germán, Marta García Jiménez, Olimpia Merry del Val, Verónica de Miguel, Fernando Cremades
Builder: Revima
Photograph: Jorge López Conde