Stone apartment

An architectural piece´s character depends, to a large extent, on the way the light is manipulated. Light can be contained with opaque surfaces, be filtered by glass, translucent elements or lattices; it can even be transformed into direct or diffuse light on creating the openings. Thus we recognize a space on virtue of how light bathes the surfaces and its materials. The 3 cm thick polished limestone partitions of the apartment, properly solves the plan, but it is the light they reflect that will be kept as a memory: the speckled skin of the stone as a backdrop of life in the house.

Set on the outskirts of Valencia´s city enlargement area, seats this small project in which natural materials -such as stone and wood- and their carefully implemented construction are the keystones of the work. The new core to the house it´s conformed of the main bathroom and a small restroom, and its construction it´s approached through tailor made solutions developed to meet the particular conditions of the workplace. Thus for example, the core´s perimeter walls are built with 3 cm thick solid limestone pieces, anchored to floor and ceiling -and among them- acting as partitions, and not as mere decorative sheathing.

The stone becomes this way both structure and finish, and its silky skin, full of character, acts as a backdrop of the activities of its inhabitants. The stone´s cutting makes also room for 1 cm, thick glass pieces inserted in-between the stone, allowing for the light to come in and out of the core space. Aluminium microperforated blinders covering the whole width of the openings, and custom made lamps, further control the light that gets to the stone surfaces.