When we received the CASA CM project, we were faced with a big challenge. The house was a 40-year-old hacienda-type house in a deteriorated state. It had to be both remodeled and almost fully rehabilitated. The house maintained a traditional Spanish hacienda style of distribution where each space, both in private and social areas, was compartmentalized and separated.  The areas were connected through corridors. The structure was based on a grid of columns and wooden beams that supported a large tile roof.

The client's request was for us to transform the house into a giant loft, where absolutely all the social spaces would integrate with each other. They wanted a space where the interior areas would fully integrate with the exterior ones. In order to open the spaces we needed to overthrow several columns, which was a huge risk considering that the roof was old and deteriorated.

We decided to work hand in hand with a team of structural engineers, who could help us make our design a reality without putting the safety of the house at risk.

The original house had 6 bedrooms, 3 full baths and a social bathroom, family room, dining room, main room and kitchen. The outdoor areas were accessed through small doors.

Now that the owners’ (a couple) were living without other household members, we proposed to change the distribution of living space to the following:

3 bedrooms (1 main bedroom and 2 secondary)

2 full bathrooms and 1 social

2 work studies

Dining room

Kitchen

Family room

Main living room

Independent suite

Gym and Jacuzzi areas

In addition to demolishing the majority of the interior walls, the exterior shell of all the facades had to be modified. Exterior modifications included enlarging windows and widening doorways that restricted movement between the interior and exterior spaces. We therefore created a new facade of glass partitions around the central patio, which replaced the brick-walled facades.

In this way, the main bedroom, the family room and the great room became flexible spaces that have the possibility of opening completely to join the outdoor areas. With this change we were able to give life to the central patio, which previously had the character of a backyard since it did not have direct communication with any interior areas. In addition to improving access, we changed furnishings, and use of space, transforming an under-utilized patio into a large porch consisting of a living room, dining room, bar and bread oven.

Inside, we combined two of the bedrooms to create a large open space that allowed us to create two comfortable home office areas. We also connected this new open space to the family room. By removing the walls of the bedrooms that faced the family room, we enhanced the visually connection of the studies with the outdoor areas.

Finally, the opening of all the interior spaces exposed the framework of the wooden structure that supports the roof, which allowed them to be finished as architectural accents that can be seen from each indoor and outdoor space.