Anna & Eugeni Bach: Casa Anoro

Barcelona-based studio Anna & Eugeni Bach have recently completed the expansion of a single family house in the village of Sant Esteve de Palautordera, to the north of Barcelona. The previously existing house had been enlarged with small additions after its completion, but a new room program almost doubled the original surface of the house, which determined the need for a new intervention. "The strategy, from the very beginning, was to treat the overall project as a 'dancing couple', where every part has its own role while dancing the same song," state architects Anna and Eugeni Bach.

The architects first focused on eliminating previous additions, leaving the original house into a state they characerise as "a prototypical house: a simple volume with pitched roof, white walls and small rectangular windows." The expansion was then built, emulating this spirit: a simple volume with a similar width and height as the original house, as to avoid competing with the piched roof.

The volumes, the dimensions and proportions of the windows, the materials, and the construction techniques of the two volumes are similar. "They are equal but not identical," state the architects, pointin out how "none of the two tries to be the main volume, but it is easy to distinguish between both."

The similarities are apparent in the façades. The new volume shows the layers of its construction — bricks, plaster, white paint — and the stripes in its façade gives it a lightness and fragmentation that allows the dwelling to dematerialise when facing the garden.

A new entrance and stairs are placed between the two volumes, in a set back area with a lower height. "It is a space between the leading actors," state the architects, "which works as much for the volumetry as for the internal organisation; arranging the circulations and showing the origin, the process and, above all, the main strategy for the whole project."

Casa Anoro
Location: c/ Ocells, 9, Sant Esteve de Palautordera, Barcelona, Sapin
Architects: Anna & Eugeni Bach, arquitectes
Collaborators: Albert Cabrer, Gracinda Ferreira, Carina Silva
Completion: 2013
Built area: 242 square metres (128 square metres for the new house + 114 square metres for the refurbishment)
Client: Anoro-Clusa family
Contractor: Calam Tapias Construccions
Photography: Jordi Bernadó