Carles Enrich: www.carlesenrich.com
# REUSE, PREEXISTENCE, DETAILS, PLYWOOD
In the common language the word ai???detailai??? is often used to define something that is not very important, inside a general context.
By contrast, in architecture, the quality of a project depends on the way the details are studied and treated.
In this particular case, all the details form the project of the house.
That means that, like in a boat, nothing is superfluous: every single centimetre is used for optimizing each living purpose. As a result, small spaces are calculated to fit functions and follow even the movements of the owners inside the open rooms. Yet, interiors are not rigid because of the little proportions of the place, but they adapt to receive even the changes in the family.
The former destination of this location, not far from the area called Gracia in Barcelona, was a dry-cleaner, with direct entrance along the road.
In the conversion of this old shop into a private house, all rooms are arranged around a patio, which represents the heart of the familiar unit. All the division walls are opened towards the patio, so that every room can benefit of the natural lightening and air, coming from the external space.
But the original finding of the architect was to excavate a portion of the floor to get a double height, where to position the bedroom. This extra space is meant to be more a suspended furniture than a proper room.
An old storage space, placed at the back of the plot, is converted into a satellite studio, whose entry is independent from the house. This fragmentation of the programme makes the patio a cornerstone of the entire composition, which enriches not only the fruition of the home, but guarantees perspectives towards it and its trees, as a tiny garden inside a dense urban area.
Architect: Carles Enrich.
Location: Barcelona.
Constructor: CRK.
Surface: 145 m2.
End date: February 2013.
Photographs: Enric Fabre y Carles Enrich.
