Badia Arquitectes: GM House

Barcelona-based studio Badia Arquitectes have recently completed a single family house in Terrassa, Spain. Located in a building that formerly housed the local printing press Impremta Ventayol — with a 1895 façade designed by local architect Lluís Muncunill — the new house had to incorporate and preserve the historical façade.

The architects propose a new composition where the historical façade highlighted by its combination with a meshed textile skin, which seeks to effectively merge with the neighbouring urban fabric. "An attempt has been made to subtly remind the viewer of the the historical division of the plot in the layout and façades," state the architects, remarking how this traditional partitioning of space gave a particular rhythm to the city, which new buildings often lack.

Distributed over four floors, the house's spaces are distributed in order to create wide views, in generous, well-lit spaces. This distribution allows for the division between floors to become less noticeable. The house determinedly encompasses a garden in the rear, using it as an escape from the dense urban centre in which it is located.

The dwelling was built with the collaboration of the Group of Construction and Research — an organization at the Construction Engineering Department of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya — in order to improve energy efficiency and sustainability within the building.

Badia Arquitectes: GM House
Architects: Badia Arquitectes
Project leader: Francesc Badia
Collaborators: Marc Fernández, Josep Florència, UPG-GRIC Josep M. Domènec, Xavier Roca, Salvador Navarro, Raúl Villa, Josep Puchades, Mònica Ventayol
Typology: Residential