We were asked to refurbish an existing attic in the city. The main requirement from the client was to design a space for a living and for display his personal collection of paintings. On the other side, we wanted to evoke the feelings of a suburban house and take them into the city.
Architecture and interior design: Clavel Arquitectos
Partners in charge: Manuel Clavel-Rojo and Luis Clavel-Sainz
Collaborators: Diego Victoria-García, David Pérez-Martínez, David Hernández-Conesa
Location: Murcia, Spain
Year: 2011
Area: 234,30 m2
Photographer: David Frutos (BIS images)
The refurbishment was made on an existing penthouse that was affected by strict regulations that impeded to modify the alignment of the façade walls. So, as an evolution of the previous layout (very closed, with corridors and room on both sides), we proposed a system of habitable bubbles by covering and breaking the existing outer walls, that, thanks to the space that surround them, blur the boundaries between the inside and the outside. Each bubble host a different use: dining, living, main bedroom, children bedroom… while the space in between works as service and circulation.
We proposed a small number of materials, making sure that they were as durable as possible.
In this way, the bubble’s walls were cladded with opaque white glass. Apparently contradictory with the creation of an art display system, this constructive solution gets very suitable when integrating three lines of flush-mounted rails for hanging paintings. The floor that surrounds the bubbles, that means the terrace as well as the circulation spaces, is paved with long slabs of grey phyllite stone, while their interiors are finished in different solid wood flooring.
In the circulation spaces, these materials were complemented with a continuous perforated gypsum ceiling, in order to counteract the acoustic behavior of the glass.
Finally, we paid special attention to lighting, solving three different levels of use: daily use lighting, by downlights and recessed LED strips around the perimeter; art display lighting, by cardan spotlights; and signalizing lighting in the outside, by LED strips under the glass walls that make bubbles float at night.
Clavel Arquitectos
With offices in Spain and Miami and projects from China to the United States, Clavel Arquitectos is an international architecture firm specializing in unique architecture and interior design projects.
Projects like the Museum Garage in Miami for LMVH group, a building made with golden and silver cars, have become a major touristic attraction and a new icon for the city and has been chosen building of the year in Miami. Also its new restaurant for Alain Ducasse, the chef with the most Michelin stars in the world with great public success, has just finished in Dubai.
Their projects have received more than 100 awards all over the world; have appeared in more than 100 national and international publications, from New York Times to Vogue, and have received thousands of references in the media. Its architecture stimulates the imagination and is linked to successful projects all over the planet.
From projects of millions of Euros to small interior design projects, we select our projects not for their size or budget but for the potential they have in creating a better city and happier citizens.
www.clavelarquitectos.com
