Home in Ventajola / Damián Ribas
House in Ventajola / Damián Ribas
Text description provided by the architects. This house is included in a comprehensive reform and rehabilitation project of a typical ceretana farm. The large complex includes thirteen apartments and a subdivision of an existing stone farmhouse, its barn and its attached sheds.
The house that is the subject of this report is located in the center of the two sets of buildings, distributed around two large squares or threshing floors where wheat used to be threshed in the past. Consisting of what was originally a stone machinery shed and a new volume of recycled oak, it emphasizes the dialogue between old and new. These two juxtaposed volumes are separated by a low flat roof that provides access to the house, a point at which the duality of the volumes is clearly expressed.
On the old stone side we find the day-time area with trusses and recovered wooden beams. The kitchen, the dining room and the living room are located in a single space through a functional distribution open to the beautiful views of the Cerdanya Pyrenees. The windows to these views are made with the criterion of respecting the verticality of the openings typical of these constructions, so as not to distort the image of a farmhouse. The master bedroom is also located in this volume, in which a simple and warm atmosphere predominates, with built-in furniture and natural materials.
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The new wooden volume houses the children’s area, with the playing room and the two bedrooms. The roof is made up of new laminated wood beams but following the same Nordic warmth in the interior materials with parquet and microcement floors, built-in furniture, natural textiles and plastered shapes with rounded edges.
Only the wood of the facade is shown in all its rusticity, the rest is painted to contribute texture while providing light in the case of the ceiling and color in the case of the carpentry. The oak wood floors provide softness and warmth necessary in a high mountain climate. The details of the carpentry and the blacksmithing come from the careful observation of traditional elements and recycling, providing quality in each small element.
The exterior garden opens to the view of the Tossa peak, snow-covered most of the year. The garden is combined with a shaded area with a flat roof so as not to hinder the view of the two opposing volumes.
The housing complex has a communal bathroom space, social area and motorcycle garage, in addition to a communitarian geothermal installation which, together with the passive design and the powerful insulation in the envelope, leads to a minimal energy consumption. In short, with the dialogue between the new and the old, history is valued without giving up a modern yet respectful language.
