In the initial briefing the client brought a particular request: could we improve life with his adolescent children?

We seriously worked on this theme and started a colaboration with a psychologistic, Vera Mc Alley. The cell phone addiction , the disorganization and their rebellious spirit it’s a major trouble of today parents.

Adolescence is a period of profound cognitive development, and marks difference behaviours between youngster and adults. Young people want to discover, break, contradict,….while the adult wants to order and simplify.

Another characteristic of youngster is an extremely high curiosity level. Which nowadays is profited to gain consumers on the small screen.

We have developed a matryoshka model to stimulate chaos and curiosity through architecture.

The whole house is the main box. Inside it find place a big wood box, containing the youngster rooms. In them new smaller boxes: an articulated structure of places and niches, stairs and cupboards.

In this intersection of volumes the sons have spaces to discover, new scenarios to stimulates their fantasy.

The matryoshka concept can replicate at different scale. Children will use big and small boxes to sort their things, to hide their secrets, to define new borders and spaces.

The chaos that the adult experiences as negative has a totally different effect in the children mind.

The matryoshka model helps comprehend space. Space is something relative: we need a reference to understand it. Empty space is just a concept. The small box gives a dimension to the cupboard, which helps figure the room, and the room helps sizing the whole apartment.

Upon entering the flat the big wood children box appears on the left. At the front, a smaller wood box for storage helps sizing the entrance space. They both intersect with the white walls in a seamless way, questioning whether the white walls were built around the boxes or vice versa. Some smaller boxes are assigned to each family member. Here are placed the belongings left around, a way to keep the space tidy and a memento for each one to cooperate when sharing a living.

The children rooms extend over the corridor, expanding the available space. They are partially overlapping: the first room uses the upper part as a relaxing corner, where underneath the second room has a niece for the bed.

While the articulated space is the common thread for the youngster, on a general scale the apartment has a minimalist design, aiming for a functional and comfortable interior.

Private spaces are now located at the rear, far from the noisy down-town street. While the living room / open kitchen, is relocated to the front, profiting from the abundant natural light and a glimpse on the busy Alameda square.

All the sleeping rooms now overlook an external space, sharing the main patio.

The whole is carefully detailed, with an emphasis on simplicity and practicability.

Here follow some highlights:

We kept the original terrazzo tile floor. To rejuvenate it, we have forgone the wood skirting and replaced it with a subtle 10 cm varnish paint strip at the bottom of the walls.

The shelves in the living room are made from the same stone as the kitchen desk. Their metal supports are masked by books, transmitting an overall sense of lightness.

The absence of a main drain for the new bathroom (bathroom 1) made necessary the installation of a drain pump. This pump propels water into a reservoir. This water is reused to supply the toilet's tank. Water conservation is a growing concern in southern Spain as rainfall has strongly decreased in the last decades.