CURRENT STATE.
We were commissioned to renovate a home located in a residential block near the banks of the Genil River in Granada. This is an area of open blocks built in 1979 which, although conceived as an expansion of the city, are now very close to the city center, remaining on the outskirts of the hustle and bustle of the historic center and the intense tourist activity of recent years.
The apartment, with an approximate area of 189 m², had a layout typical of apartments of the time, organized around a narrow corridor that served as a backbone distributing the different rooms, which functioned as isolated cells, hindering interaction and encounters in everyday life. The renovation was therefore an opportunity to question this model of living, seeking another order that would restore fluidity, interaction, and spatial continuity.
The rectangular-shaped house is located on a corner facing southeast and northeast. It has an enclosed terrace with views of Sacromonte, the Alhambra, and, on the other side, Sierra Nevada. These views had to be highlighted.
The demolition of the partition walls returned the house to its essential skeleton: the structure, the vertical uprights of the installations, and the unchanging pattern of the openings in the façade. The project was written on this conditioned surface—between what remained and what had disappeared—assuming the restrictions.

 The demolition of the partition walls stripped the house back to its bare bones: the structure, the vertical uprights of the installations, and the unchanging grid of the façade openings. The project was written on this conditioned surface—between what remained and what had disappeared—assuming the restrictions not as limits, but as coordinates from which to deploy a new spatial arrangement.

IDEA.
The owners have lived in different houses throughout their lives, and in this renovation they are looking for a place that can accommodate a new stage. We soon realized that this house was not just a physical space, but a container for all their previous homes: those they had lived in, those they remembered, those they had dreamed of. A house that holds a thousand houses, woven together in memory.

STRATEGY: CONNECTED SPACES. 
The project is based on a concept that is part of the studio's approach: connected spaces. Each room leads to the next—or to several possible ones—creating a continuous narrative that explores the relationships between the rooms. This creates fluid spaces that encourage non-finite routes, multiple itineraries that allow the house to be traversed in different ways, expanding the freedom of use and multiplying the possibilities for enjoyment.
Within these concatenated spaces, three unique elements emerge which, due to their particular nature, give the project its name: hallway, lock, and garden.

HALLWAY + LOCK + GARDEN.
 Entrance hall, lock, and garden are the three elements that articulate the home. Places of transit and pause, links or antechambers that mediate between the main rooms and ultimately define the identity of the house.

Entrance hall.
n. A covered space in a house, adjacent to the front door, which serves as an entrance.

The entrance is inspired by the tradition of Andalusian houses, where there is always an entrance hall leading to the courtyard. Here, the transition from a 1970s urban block is transformed into the experience of arriving at a house. The mosaic floor of irregular marble pieces, the textured walls, the diffused light from a window, and an old family chest create a decontextualized scene that, from the first step, begins to tell a story.

Sluice gate.
n. A hydraulic structure consisting of an enclosure closed by gates, which allows differences in level to be overcome by regulating the flow of water.

In the home, the lock functions in a similar way: a transition chamber, a dark and anachronistic space with a low ceiling and blue vault, which slows down the journey. At the same time, it houses a storage area. It is a threshold that prepares the inhabitant before entering the intimate and open space of the house, and which also gives access to the kitchen.

Garden.
m. Land where plants are grown for ornamental purposes.

The project reinterprets this definition and transforms the old covered terrace into an interior garden. A large window frames the view of Granada while also isolating the space from urban noise. The green glazed tiles and natural vegetation create reflections that evoke a secret garden, an intimate oasis in the middle of the city.
This space takes on a special role: the encounter with vegetation restores an essential, almost anthropological dimension of the connection with nature, responding to a deficiency detected in the home and a desire expressed by its owners.
The rest of the spaces are designed with the aim of creating a warm and serene atmosphere, where the materials used contribute to this feeling of comfort. The living-dining room is enveloped in oak paneling, whose texture and tone evoke the idea of home. This cladding becomes a piece of furniture-shelving, acting as a filter towards the study area.

The natural oak paneling mediates between the areas: it establishes a subtle boundary that differentiates the more public area of the home from the more private one, without fragmenting it. The relationship between the dining room and the kitchen is based on proximity and comfort for everyday use, but without any hint of ostentation.

The light, filtered by the finishes, reflected in the garden and bouncing off the paintings, intertwines with the warmth of the wood and the chosen tones, creating a space where everyday life takes on an intimate and welcoming character. The home thus ceases to be a collection of isolated rooms and becomes a harmonious whole, where each transition and each texture contributes to the construction of a single living experience.

Team:

Architects: JAO Architecture
Construction company: Cyra. Restoration and Construction 
Photography: Juanan Barros

Materials Used:

Carpentry, custom furniture, cladding, and kitchen: Mobi&Co

Metalwork: Model: Technal. Unicity_HI López Soto

Entrance hall
Paradise minibroken edge white. L´antic colonial. Porcelanosa
Ecoclay paint
Sluice: Cementum indigo flooring. Marazzi
Garden 
Lume Green. Marazzi
Ipon wall lights. Aromas del campo

Flooring 
Ter hurne Hywood. Classic Collection. Oak
Kitchen and bathroom flooring. 
Bottega Caliza. Porcelanosa
Kitchen.
Fenix board, Giallo Evora
Countertop. Neolith retrostone silk
Master bathroom
Umber countertop. Dekton Cosentino
Ukiyo Umber. Dekton Cosentino

Furniture
Coln lamp. Aromas del campo
Bok dining table. Etnicraft
LS90 Jung mechanisms
Tesi radiators. Israp