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A01Ferraz 21
Type
Housing - Renovation
ClientPrivate Client
Surface75 m2
Budget40.000€
LocationAlcalá de Henares, Madrid
CreditsDrawings @actarchitects
Photography @actarchitects
Video @La Carbonera Studio
Year2022
StatusBuilt
Ferraz 21 is a renovation of a dwelling built in the 1950s within a residential settlement developed for workers of the steel industry in Alcalá. The existing house was characterised by reduced construction quality and limited material resources, the result of a modest building system with an almost self-built character. Its narrow 3.5-metre-wide bay, poor natural lighting and ventilation, and persistent problems of humidity significantly affected the habitability of the dwelling.
The intervention is conceived as an ecosystemic transformation that addresses these conditions through a new environmental and spatial organisation. The narrowness of the existing structure favours an open and fluid distribution, minimising unnecessary partitions and allowing light and air to penetrate deeper into the dwelling. At the centre of the proposal, a large roof skylight is introduced as a new architectural and climatic device. Rather than functioning simply as a source of daylight, the skylight becomes the main element of a natural ventilation system, using the chimney effect to extract warm and humid air from the interior and promote the circulation of fresh air throughout the dwelling.
The new environmental system reorganises the relationship between the different spaces of the house, allowing daylight, air, and thermal conditions to circulate through the entire domestic unit. The intervention therefore treats architecture not as a collection of isolated rooms, but as an interconnected environmental system in which spatial organisation and climatic performance operate together.
AXO BIOCLIMÁTICA
Ferraz 21 explores how a precise architectural intervention can transform the environmental performance of an existing dwelling while working within the constraints of its modest construction. The new skylight becomes both a spatial and infrastructural element, establishing a new centre for the house and turning natural ventilation, daylight, and spatial continuity into fundamental components of domestic life. The project uses a limited number of architectural operations to improve the quality and comfort of the interior, allowing environmental performance to emerge directly from the organisation of the dwelling.
Drawings @Alejandro Carrasco Hidalgo
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News!
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01.07.2026
1st Prize - Paisaje Flotante
Competition
A Cel Obert, Tortosa, Tarragona
x EstudioLatente
01.07.2025
1st Prize - De Roca Madre
Competition
TAC! 2025 Urban Architecture Festival
x EstudioLatente
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