ELKANO TWO APARTMENTS
The commission proposes obtaining two homes, based on the division of an former apartment located in one of the first buildings in the San Sebastian extension. The building dates from 1873 and some of its elements have not been modified since then. Thanks to this, original pieces are preserved that, although they are in a poor state of preservation, provide added value, so it is decided to recover them.
The home is located in a corner building. On the one hand, it faces two exterior facades and on the other, it borders the party wall of the adjacent building. So, despite having many linear meters of façade, it has a large surface area only illuminated and ventilated by an interior patio and a small patio with lights.
The approach that is made, when segregating the floor into two new homes, consists of distributing one of them in the corner of the building and allocating a smaller surface area, thus allowing the rest of the floor to be released, in order to distribute better the partywall-home which presents greater difficulty both due to the shortage of meters of street frontage and because it is further away from access.
The corner home has a larger section of the façade, while the dividing house is formulated as an intern dwelling between the street and the interior patio. In this way, two houses of different shape and characteristics are obtained, but with many points in common. In the access of both houses a rhythm is generated, by means of a covering of mirrors framed by wooden slats, which provides spaciousness and light. Although with a different configuration, in both homes the kitchen is an independent piece that is visually integrated into the room, which generates an interesting sequence of spaces. Likewise, lighting is resolved in a similar way in both cases.
We intervene from respect for what exists, highlighting the benefits, sometimes hidden, of the old house. The cast iron chimneys and radiators are recovered and the old doors are stripped, adapting them to relocate them in the main spaces of the new homes. Likewise, some original materials are occasionally shown, such as the stone and brick walls or the wooden structure on the ceilings.
The structure of the building is quite deteriorated and the floor requires a previous action for reinforcement and leveling, which implies the replacement of the old pavements. In this process, an ancient mosaic pavement is discovered, which remained hidden under different layers of screed. Its pieces are recovered and reorganized in a new design, arranging them as a rug in each of the entrances to the new homes.
