The Urban Retreat of Ferrolan LAB in Barcelona

06/05/2011 – We are in the heart of the old town, in the district of Sant Andreu in Barcelona where the urban image is characterised by small, very long and narrow batches. The house , designed by Jordi Antonijoan Roset_Ferrolan LABORATORY is certainly one of the lots of the next quarter, only 3.7 meters but very long and with a balcony overlooking the street at front and the back.
The size of the lot (3.7 x 25 m), the position and the orientation (N-S) are the elements that impact on the design. The project Ferrolan LAB tries to show the implementation of these aspects. The facade of the small size and the depth of the plot, have a guest designer to take into account "the treatment of" light", as the main condition of the project originally for the development in the vertical. So the project is distributed as follows: on the ground floor there is a garage and a space for "the movie", located on the first floor there are two rooms with a connecting door and a room-studio, patio-garden; on the first floor, on one side of the dining area/living room and the kitchen with a gallery, which can be converted to a terrace in the summer; on the second floor there is the master bedroom and finally the roof terrace with a swimming pool.

The distribution of the different environments is generated by large, open spaces and the connection between them is very transparent and ensure on the one hand you can the cross it with your eyes thanks to the double height of the terrace. The other, to leave the house to be very flexible and reconfigurable with a high ability to change.
The intention was a house you would enjoy in the outdoors and escape the stress of life in the city. The house had the need to open fully outside and at the same time maximum privacy from the inside.

Both fronts have large openings, but solved in different ways. In the southern facade, the openings are solved with a breeze, adjustable sun guaranteed on the one hand, the control of solar radiation and the other from the level of privacy.
The facade of the Northern flank of the brick-and-concrete-framed glass blocks of large dimensions, which allow light to pass through, and at the same time to blur the images is solved with a wall.

Therefore the facade, the house opens to the outside as to collect the light and hide inside and tried to escape from the direct contact with the urban space and the noise. The courtyard in this way is the protagonist of the house is, the connection is immediately and directly with the outside world. It allows contact with the noise and pollution of the urban environment. From the terrace in all rooms, you can see the sky from any point of the house, the garden on the ground floor and a terrace with a pool cover.

The use of noble materials such as wood, stone, lacquer, decor in warm colours, wall-paper, the room, separate rooms, comfortable, pleasant, in spite of the house being almost fully open. The approach of the terrace, the house is let for the stripping of the matter to become visible, the structure and work with lighter materials such as glass, steel, iron, white color, for maximum transparency, lightness and brightness.

The study was of the material from the first sketch of the house, and not just as a last resource, to a beautiful bowl on the idea. Ferrolan_LAB tried, the unity of architecture and interior architecture.
The second part is the most important of the project and is the cover a space "separated" from the city, in the vicinity of a projection in a house, isolated…a refuge.

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