The restoration and extension of the existing house in the Colonia de El Viso garden-city, respects the character and nature of this 1930’s cluster inside Madrid, but modifies the scale of its openings due to the presence and views to an extraordinary garden across the street.
Due to a neglected original state, which affected the structural stability of the house, the new frames introduced around these three big windows also act as metallic structural frames which contribute to the regained stiffness of the whole, also visually framing the new windows against the old brick fabric. The house has a small front garden but outdoor living is focused onto the backyard wooden Iroco-floor terrace and patio, north orientated and thus cool during the summer months.
Enlargement volumes are finished in black stucco in an inversion of the usual hierarchy (in which that which is added is “lighter” than the existing), whereas here a new unity is achieved in a balance of “weights” unified by the sameness of the three main openings.
