villanueva house, caldes d'estrac
Located in the historical centre of Caldes d'Estrac, the house to be remodelled has a facade 5.30 m wide and a built depth of 12.67 m, with a patio 6 m deep at the back. It consists of a ground floor and two floors, the last of which is recessed at the back.
It has a structure of load-bearing walls and wooden beams, with ceramic vaults, and an orderly composition on the main façade, following the classic model for this type of construction, with an axis of central symmetry. The one that faces the inner courtyard, on the other hand, is much less orderly, with irregular openings.
The ground floor, once remodelled, maintains a fairly similar distribution to the original, although some of the service elements that had been added to the backyard are removed. A new washbasin and an entrance with a gate are introduced to keep Maresme's tradition of open main doors.
On the first floor there is a new bathroom and the family bedrooms. The rooms of the two children are arranged symmetrically on the side of the street, attached to a block consisting of the closed parts of the bathroom and two closets. In order to make the use of toilets more flexible while avoiding underutilized spaces, the washbasins are located in the area giving access to these bedrooms. On the other side of the house and keeping the current space almost intact, the master bedroom is located.
As regards the second floor, a small bathroom with a shower is provided and the rest of the space is left open so that it can be used as a leisure area for the children of the family. The small space at the top of the staircase opens up like a mezzanine over this area.
The facade to the street remains unchanged, making the necessary restoration works and arranging the existing facilities. The façade of the courtyard, on the other hand, undergoes major transformations. Apart from the alterations that result from the partial demolition of the annexed construction on the ground floor, on the first floor the small washbasin attached to the façade is removed and a new window opened in the master bedroom. On the second floor, the existing enclosure is replaced by a large window closed by folding doors with wooden slats. This window has to allow a greater entrance of light not only to the leisure area that is created on the second floor but also to the space of the staircase and, through it, to the whole of the building.