By Team IAnD
Photography: Esteve Serra
& Xavier Planas; courtesy the architects
Read Time: 2 mins
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ERA architects design
a home that reflects the language of an artist, who is rooted, emotional and
progressive in nature.
As sensitive as they come,
Chris is an artist, musician and sailor with a penchant for being whimsical and
grounded at the same time. When he decided to root his houseboat (a recovered
personal treasure) near Besós
river in Barcelona, he chose an old fisherman’s house to comprise its
all-important adjunct to be able to harness a comfortable, light-filled home.
ERA Architects headed by
founder Esther Rovira was called upon to make a composite home of these two
disjointed entities. Using a vertical greenhouse as the mainstay, the
three-level home stands transformed with a charming English cottage-like
ambience especially since the inner patio (now the music studio) includes a
lemon tree.
On the ground floor, the living room connects the kitchen and
the entrance of the original building and a large balcony opens to the outside
so you can almost pick up some fresh lemons directly from the treetop welcoming
the traffic that connects with the rest of spaces.
The art studio is a diaphanous space of slender heights and
light. Conceived as a greenhouse ecosystem, where the creations of the artist
are mixed with the natural habitat, the skin
oriented to the south acclimatizes the house during winter; while large windows
on both sides make it possible for the house to be cross ventilated in summer.
This duality has the home performing like an enclosure capturing light and
heat, in sync with the climatic vagaries of nature.
Sustainability
is woven into the skin of the built form via building systems that are dry and
modular, allowing for complete disassembly and recycling, when required. The
holistic skeleton that supports the slabs, the roof, windows and façade is made
of metal whilst a self-supporting Polycarbonate Thermoclik system eliminates
the need for vertical aluminum, while improving aesthetics and reducing
installation costs.
Light,
rigid, translucent material, quick installation and excellent energy-saving
features viz., 40mm thick multilayer plates with protection against ultraviolet
radiation; wooden slabs and an installation system without adhesives, water
management system and renewable energy systems with zero waste generation
contribute to the environment. Added to this, the roof has a 45º slope to the
south to add solar panels in the future.
Casa Poly works as a closed
box in winter, transforming sunlight into heat and holding it at night. During
the summer the house is open and cross-ventilated. Despite being designed and
built in an uncertain economic context, the house is adaptable, passively air-conditioned, naturalized,
diaphanous and full of natural light. And connected to the natural environment!
Fact
File:
Creative
Team: Esther Rovira & Chris Irish
Quality
Surveyor: Albert Bonaventura Sans
Structural
engineer: Jorge Martín
Furniture:
Verges
Pavement:
Interface
Contractor:
Gil Obras
Metal
Works: Carlos Albaladejo
Facade:
Ironlux & Seframa
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