Yurbban
Urban refuge
- Place C/ Trafalgar 30
- Client SMARTROOMS
- Type Integral rehabilitation
- Total built area 3.600 m²
- Completion date October 2014
An existing building, urbanistically inadequate and functionally obsolete, with a non-conforming façade and with planning permission to be converted into a hotel.
The client did not submit a commission: it arrived with a preliminary refurbishment project. The project did not take advantage of the great opportunity to integrate the building into its surroundings and give continuity to the long façade on C/ Trafalgar. For us the job was not overly motivating.
We agreed to accept the commission but with the freedom to improve and optimise the proposal according to our criteria. The client quickly accepted the proposal, signed up to the new approach and synergies were added.
The proposal was based on changing the layout to improve the functionality and quality of the interior spaces.
The interior layout has been rationalised, the number of rooms of the initial project has been increased and warm materials have been chosen
The concept
Different formats for the rooms on the first and second floors, with a spectacular small swimming pool on the roof floor with panoramic views of the old town
The first-floor rooms also have a private terrace each.
The proposal for the façade distinguishes three parts: a ground floor plinth that includes part of the mezzanine; a second section that matches the average height of the neighbouring buildings; and the rest, which is treated in a more abstract way with wooden slats that leave the windows in the background, maintain the views and allow light to enter.
These same slats were installed to create an optical effect and can only be seen from a specific point on the street. This placement allows for privacy in the rooms with the best views. The window jambs are also asymmetrical: they were arranged obliquely in order to allow in the light from the west. This arrangement gives the impression of greater depth and movement.
The wooden gallery that crowns the building turns towards the south-west façade, with the idea of showing the best version of the building towards the party wall most visible from the street: this party wall is treated as a façade, bringing the noble materials inwards to close the protruding volume.
