Home in Ciudad Universitaria

The 1970s and 1980s were years of progress in Spain. The country opened up to the global economy and industrial development. In this context, there was a great drive to develop new urban areas with large avenues and high-rise buildings. Buildings, which, due to their height, would grow structurally with concrete and metal. However, these would leave behind the high ceilings of the previous Modernist era. We were entering a new way of understanding homes.

The home we took on this time is in one of these spacious areas of the city, where the façade of the neighbouring building does not interrupt daily life in these homes. Urban areas with homes full of light thanks to their large windows and single-storey layout.

The refurbishment was in the Ciudad Universitaria district of Valencia, close to the bustling Avenida de Blasco Ibáñez. Built in 1970, this spacious, square home is fortunate to have three of its four façades overlooking the street.

The refurbishment project maintained the layout mostly intact. The only room that would radically change location was the kitchen; in its original state, it was relegated to the domestic service area. But with new family habits and structures, we decided to bring it closer to the public area of the home, connecting it with the living-dining room. This would integrate it into daily life in the home.

Although the layout did not change too much, one of the key jobs was to update installations, both heating and air conditioning. This required attention to detail while distributing the layout to prevent it interfering in the visual quality of the property.

The commission specified a key point, to purify spaces visually. The home required wall coverings and décor to be cleaned up so as to adapt it to a more modern, less ornate style. So we decided to remove the coverings from some walls and paint them white – walls, doors, mouldings, ceilings and cupboards. The wooden floor was also restored, bringing warmth to the rooms.

And as a feature, colour would be used on some walls and ceilings, creating attractive spaces. Differentiating ambiences in some rooms with dynamic colours and scales.