fran silvestre arquitectos enlivens 20th-century house in spain with triple-height interiors

‘the empty house’ by fran silvestre arquitectos 

Located on the main street of a town near Valencia, ‘The Empty House’ by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos is part of a restored 20th-century residential building. Dramatically merging old and new, the project sees the existing façade and building footprint preserved while the ruined interiors are emptied to make way for a modern and bright design. From the outside, the façade maintains its character without modifying the street, creating a kind of scenery from another era. Furthermore, the tone of this old façade is unified with a gray antelope treatment that goes completely unnoticed.

‘The Empty House’ | image © Fernando Guerra

creating an otherworldy space with ‘limitless’ depth 

Crossing that threshold to ‘The Empty House’, one finds themselves in another time, a world washed in pure white and natural lighting. Only what is necessary is closed and air-conditioned, and a triple-height volume takes over, an ideal feature for the Mediterranean climate that reigns throughout the year.

Program-wise, the architects allocated a day area close to the dividing wall, in continuity with a pool large enough to swim, which gets lost in the Valencian fields. Meanwhile, a guest room and multipurpose room resolve the change of direction that the site offers, a twist between two pieces separated by just a few millimeters. The rest of the space on this floor is empty, leaving visitors and residents to wonder about the size of the room, with seemingly no limit to its depth.

image © Fernando Guerra

On the other hand, the night area is arranged transversally as a bridge framing the views of the surrounding Valencian context. There, a master bedroom sits above a living room, facing the same direction. The section gives us a floor plan with sloping roofs with an entrance of light from above, a space that time will put to use

As for materials, the architects reused the wood from the house’s old beams to build the new furniture, ‘and just as it has been sought with the space of the house, it becomes a material that acquires a new life,’ they conclude. 

image © Jesús Orrico

image © Fernando Guerra

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image © Fernando Guerra

 

 

 

 

 

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project info:

name: The Empty House 

location: Valencia, Spain 

built area: 814 sqm

architecture: Fran Silvestre Arquitectos | fransilvestrearquitectos 

project team: Fran Silvestre, María Masià, Sevak Asatrián, Paco Chinesta 

interior design: Alfaro Hofmann 

technical architects: Silverio Soriano, Enrique Alario 

building engineering: DOF Ingenieros 

construction: Construcciones Ribera

collaborators: Pablo Camarasa, Ricardo Candela, Estefanía Soriano, Carlos Lucas, Judith López, José María Ibañez,Jose Manuel Arnao, Andrea Baldo, Miguel Massa, Paloma Feng, Javi Herrero, Javi Herrero, Gino Brollo, Angelo Brollo, Anna Alfanjarín, Laura Bueno, Toni Cremades, David Cirocchi, Gabriela Schinzel, Lucas Manuel, Nuria Doménech, Andrea Raga, Víctor González, Olga Martín, Pepe Llop, Anahí Aguilera, Awab Bek, Monike Teodoro, Gemma Aparicio, Rosa Juanes, Ana de Pablo, Sara Atienza, Valeria Fernandini, Sandra Mazcuñán, Sandra Mazcuñán, Andrés Martínez, Kateryna Spuziak

gardening: Dalmau

paintings: Jesús Hurtado

photography: Fernando Guerra | @fernandogguerra, Jesús Orrico | @jesusorrico

videography: Jesús Orrico