MAESTRO RESIDENCE
The need for a major intervention was clear since my first visit to the house . The walls on the ground floor interrupted the communication between the internal spaces and also their connection with the exterior of the house . On the first floor , the distribution was disconnected and fragmented , whit small and low quality spaces .
When studying the original division of the house , I realized that the original living room area was too narrow , the entry hall too generous and the kitchen and dining area too big .
From this point on the idea of a complete inversion of the house came to mind : the kitchen occupies today the old living room , the dining room is where the entry hall was and the living room is where the kitchen and dining use to be . To make such transformation possible , metallic beans were set to support the walls on the first floor , aligned with the ones on the ground floor . The beans are intentionally visible to remind us , in a way , of the history of the old house .
Another strong reason for the layout inversion was to create a beautiful entry garden were the service patio was . The entry , which used to be shy and hidden on the narrow side of the house , is made today by this patio between the main block and the outbuilding
A hollow brick wall was set beside the outbuilding ’ s access stairs , displaying the passage of time through the change of light and shadows , whilst creating a dynamic and elegant background to the living area , especially at night .
The external facades of the house were all peeled , exposing the original brick walls , which were left unrepaired . To organize the new openings , hide the old ones and protect the windows from the rain , 11in deep metallic black boxes were created around the windows and the walls between them were also painted black , creating horizontal elements on the facade .
60 - www . refurbandrestore . co . uk