FONT | Nook Architects

Change does not always mean better, and perhaps that is the premise underlying this project. Instead, we sought to complement and streamline what already existed in a bid to consolidate the home and heighten its functionality and energy efficiency.

The owners had lived in the home for years, and the layout had already been adapted to their needs. However, the amenities and the comfort they provided were inadequate.

The project therefore involved making slight modifications to the pre-existing layout to improve the relationship between the interior and exterior spaces, integrating the annexed volume into the original structure and finding room for new closed storage areas. The hallway was conceived as the home’s main storage space, the kitchen was given a large work surface and the bathroom was reorganised to heighten functionality.

Thermal and acoustic insulation was added to the structure, as were adjustable aluminium blinds to regulate the natural light and direct sunlight. This, coupled with the new heating and cooling systems, helped provide greater comfort and reduce the home’s energy consumption.

The decoration consisted of ceramic tiles on the floors and on the walls in the wet areas, in combination with the custom-made white and natural oak plywood furniture. The bi-colour combination of blue and terracotta in the ceramic floors and walls places emphasis on the bathroom and kitchen hub, which acts as a hinge between the home’s private and communal areas.

Through a series of micro-actions, we have succeeded in streamlining the home’s limited space and complex geometry and rendering the spaces more efficient, open, orderly and comfortable, allowing for a better use of the home as a whole.