Materials used are mainly ceramic, lime mortar, wood and steel structures; these can be seen in an organic way, noting that it is also a modern house. Through the cotton, the carpentry and the blinds thermally insulate the house. Energy sustainability is important, it has an aerothermal installation and photovoltaic panels.
Refurbishment of a single-family house. Pantera house by MA+SA arquitectura. Photograph by Aitor Estévez Olaizola.
Refurbishment of a single-family house. Pantera house by MA+SA arquitectura. Photograph by Aitor Estévez Olaizola.
Description of project by MA+SA arquitectura
The design of the house is determined by the existing structure of the original house between party walls, made up of two buildings that will become the homes of two brothers. Almost a hundred years after the construction of the house and more than twenty years after its abandonment, this reform aims to recover its functionality, solidity and, above all, its habitable and friendly character, in a street transformed into a commercial hub and absorbed by large buildings of collective housing.
The existing regulations forced us to set back the interior façade in order to grow one more floor in height, thus gaining an interior patio that functions as an extension of the living room. With a perfect south orientation, we worked on the project section in detail to optimize the views, the summer and winter sunlight exposure as well as cross ventilation. Also, with the desire to not subtract light from the brother’s house, the rooms alternate in height, minimizing vertical paths and turning the stairs into an interior promenade.
Constructively, the house returns to the materiality of ceramics, natural lime mortars, glass, wood and steel structures, which are shown as they are, without added coatings or coverings, but also without renouncing the advantages of a modern, healthy and energetically sustainable house.
Recycled cotton insulation, larch carpentry with excellent thermal properties, traditional rope blinds, and an aerothermal installation with a contribution of photovoltaic energy have been used, the original roof tiles have also been recovered for cladding and the facades have been shielded against external electromagnetic fields.
