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Architects: XStudio
- Area: 1399 ft²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:David Rodríguez
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Manufacturers: Casa, El Corte Inglés, FARO Barcelona, Ikea, Láminas, YLD Lighting, Zara Home
Arenales is a central neighborhood in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria characterized by old terraced houses. After degradation, the neighborhood is clearly marked decades by being the epicenter of prostitution and drug trafficking in the city. However, it is undergoing a progressive transformation, driven by the purchase of homes by private developers. This presents an opportunity to restore the area's distinctive character.
House M is one of these examples of preserving the "collective heritage," which is not protected but whose main value lies in maintaining the neighborhood's historical memory and bearing witness to its historical and cultural context.
In an advanced state of deterioration, an old corner building is being restored and expanded for living and working purposes. The ground floor, which once housed a bar, now accommodates a ceramics workshop that will contribute to the social revitalization of the neighborhood. The first floor will serve as the home of the workshop's owner.
The intervention embraces an approach of close, honest, "handmade" architecture that aims to respond to the place's conditions while also considering budgetary limitations as an integral part of the context, encouraging a phased intervention.
The pre-existing structure is cleaned and conditioned with minimal intervention, laying the foundation for a regenerative process that will continue over time. Many walls' raw and imperfect appearance is preserved, retaining the marks from the period when the house was uninhabited. In the workshop, the necessary facilities are provided for its use. At the same time, original flooring and signage from the old bar are maintained, with the new installations incorporated as an additional layer.
The building completes its apparent volume by inserting a visible metal framework, supported by the load-bearing walls of the existing structure, and a large central portico that is rebuilt by reinforcing the existing pillars. This new structure is externally expressed as a rough, imperfect concrete shell, poured in small layers and formed with wooden planks, embracing its appearance as a natural consequence of the project's constraints.
Internally, the additions are lightweight to minimize the load on the original structure. The exposed framework of metal profiles and composite steel decking is complemented by the use of thermo-clay in partitions and enclosures—a material not commonly used in the Canary Islands but chosen for its ability to create an interior landscape connected to the building's new function ( ceramics) and for its weight, which is significantly lighter than the vibrated concrete block typically used.
These operations shape a tall pavilion intended for the public activities of the residence, accessed via a suspended staircase. This pavilion serves as a transitional space between the street and the more private areas of the home.
The insertion of a courtyard in the southeast corner of the structure ensures proper lighting and cross ventilation, completing the design of this project with a spirit of epigenesis, much like the neighborhood in which it resides.
