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Architects: Roberto Ercilla Arquitectura
- Area: 270 m²
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Photographs:César San Millán
Text description provided by the architects. The old buildings dotted across the Llanada, or plain, of Alava, which make up small village communities, are rather like large warehouses used for a number of purposes: family home, cattle barn, etc. On the whole, these constructions are very simple in shape, being heavy, with a double sloping roof and small windows.
New buildings obligatorily follow the typology of the old, with regard to the dimensions of their grounds plans, outer perimeters, the proportions between sides, the size of the windows and their composition, materials, and so on.
These great domestic containers, survivors from another time, rarely offer the living conditions required today as they are severely lacking in lighting and ventilation.
They do however, offer some interesting features: bluntness of form and individuality. Lets us admit the idea of a barn dwelling as a starting point. We have here a clear example of the clash between tradition and modernity.
In order to achieve large glazed spaces without altering the outer shell, we have used a simple method: to place the windows on inner planes of the facade walls, having partially removed these with the use of porches and insets. This increases the dimension of the perimeter of the building. The layout of the windows and doors, frames the surrounding landscape from many differents angles.
In this way the single-unit image remains intact while the interior is provided with plentiful lighting.
The resulting volume is added to by a chimney-stack, exterior platforms and enclosing walls. All of these are extensions to the original building which help to link it with the
