The home, nestled in Les Gavarres, a hilly expanse between the Gironés and Baix Empordà regions, in a setting ringed by forest and dirt paths, is part of a series of buildings comprising one of the area’s numerous farmhouses. This traditional structure, the tenant farmer’s house, formerly accommodated the family charged with attending to the estate’s upkeep, including both the main house and its surroundings.
The current family, whose intention was not to radically change what was already their home, wanted to add two new bedrooms, a bathroom and a music studio in order to provide all members of the household greater independence.
The original structure was comprised of ground-level living quarters and a semi-basement, which served as both storage and garage. While the two floors were connected, the layout and way in which they could be used failed to meet the family’s new needs.
With a view to expanding the house, the project unified the functions of the two floors, reorganising their usage and strengthening the connection between the new spaces and the outside. Another of the project’s aims was to remodel the semi-basement’s façade, lending it the same proportions and materials as the existing façades. Care was also taken to maintain the openings, which let it light and help ventilate the space without sacrificing solar control and privacy.
The two floors were joined not only on the inside, but on the outside as well, extending the terraced areas and consolidating the exterior staircase between them. By modernising the main façade’s pergola, the exterior space may be used for a longer period of time, while the semi-basement’s new openings provide a direct connection between the new bedrooms and the exterior area.
It was also important to improve the home’s comfort and functionality with new installations and greater thermal-acoustic insulation in the walls and roof, optimising the building’s energy efficiency. These changes to the enclosure made it possible to extend the roof’s inclined planes to the outside, recovering the building’s original volumes.
The project took care to use the same materials and techniques traditionally employed with farmhouses. The handmade clay tiles, natural wood, in this case walnut, and wrought iron elements stand out alongside the neutral, stucco-covered walls.
The dark spaces traditionally associated with this type of construction had a major impact on the approach taken to light inside the house, in which the warm light sources scattered throughout the rooms target those elements or work areas where light was needed.
The project has modernised the home and, without compromising its connection with the main farmhouse, reinforced its unique character within the group of structures through the use of traditional materials, a layout which better suits the family’s current and future needs and the opening up of the house to the outside.
