Gabriel's Home

The base is a 1960s apartment in the historic center of Palma to be upgraded as a family home. An empty flat, with no partitions. A bare flat. The only pre-existences are merely construction-related: structure, façade walls and wastewater pipes. Immovable pre-existences. Each of the elements that configure the intervention is positioned on a different layer, showcasing them as independent constructive elements. The proposal respects and enhances the conditions of the existing showing processes and materiality, working with the superposition of different times and elements. A built palimpsest.

The existing structure is made of reinforced concrete, left completely bare, skinless, only bones. The structure is free from the other elements. Three enclosed rooms configure the space, with timber material chosen to reduce the additional load on the pre-existing structure and at the same time exhibit them as new elements, independent from the rest. The three rooms, constructed in lightweight spruce wood to allow them to be positioned freely, regardless of the structure, are set in a staggered arrangement. They are built with their ‘bones’ facing outwards and their 'skin' facing in, displaying the grid substructure on one side and cladding it on the other to form the inner walls of the rooms. Three open spaces are generated between the diagonally interconnected rooms to accommodate the common uses of the house. These are open, shared spaces with unspecified uses; unclad, bare spaces for flexible uses in which the user's objects float and the furniture is mobile.

The perimeter is insulated with cork behind a ceramic wall. These ceramic blocks are installed with a continuous vertical joint and deliberately laid teeth facing outwards to texturize the walls and display their non-structural and non-insulating role. An exceptional base row forms a minimal plinth, adjusting the height. The pre-existing concrete floor is polished, the old wounds left by the previous distribution sutured with pieces of marble, highlighting the palimpsest. None of the joints between the marble pieces coincide with a change of direction. The electrical installation is surface-mounted. However, the relief of the blocks makes it difficult to attach the fittings, so wherever a switch or socket has to be installed, a terracotta piece is replaced with a clay tile with the same dimensions. This flat surface also facilitated the installation process. The lighting consists of plugs, cords and bulbs. The cords run along shiny brass pipes that contrast with the ceiling.