Built in the 70s and situated in the chamfer between the medieval city and the expansion area of Pontevedra, Spain, a building that holds a conversation with both historical periods was refurbished by gramática arquitectónica.

The existing interior walls were demolished in order to have a perspective of the whole space, and the apartment was then divided into three different areas.

The existing space distribution was characterised by the use of long corridors and many small rooms.

The family bedrooms look to the north and the medieval city, and the spaces dedicated to the family guests are open to the south. Between both wings, an intermediate large space operates as the junction of both realities and holds the common areas.

As a large continuous area, like that found in a gallery or a museum, dining and living can take place surrounded by the family art collection.

gramática arquitectónica’s main decision was to give precedence to the views of the city, so a light grey monochrome interior was designed, highlighted with different colours just some elements.

Different textures were used in some of the vertical planes, to emphasise the continuity of the horizontal planes, floors and ceilings. The doors were fabricated in the same colour and height as the walls so as to integrate into them.

This gives the impression of it being the wall itself that folds, every time the door is opened or closed. Great attention was paid to the details of the carpentry, producing the subtlest separation between walls and doors.

The new shorter corridors were painted in dark blue, to make them visually smaller, whilst the walls of the kitchen were treated as a whole piece of furniture.

Concealing different spaces behind natural wood that contrasts with the rest of the monochrome interior.

One of the decisions made with the clients was to break the monochrome impression by separating the different planes of the spaces by using a thin construction edge, called alheta de remate.

The carpenters performed remarkably high quality work, creating tailored wood furniture instead of using industrial doors or wardrobes.

Stone cutters carefully created marble sinks and covering for the bathroom walls, using natural stone pieces that separate from each other using a very fine black construction edge.

An integral restoration of the apartment was performed owing to the old aluminum windows. The electrical, water and heating systems were all removed and replaced with more efficient systems.

Which had several insulation problems caused by thermal bridging.

Heat radiating floors were installed and along with energy-efficient LED based illumination. Resultantly, the energy certification of the apartment was improved, along with the thermal comfort as well as a decrease of the noise from outside.