The home now has two bedrooms instead of three, a large entrance hall that serves as a dressing room, two bathrooms, and a common area with a kitchen and living space. It is organized around a curved wall clad in green glazed ceramic tiles. “It is the main element and not only serves as a room divider but also provides storage solutions. Around it are placed a series of pantries, cupboards, shelves, cupboards, and even the bathrooms. It is an aesthetic moment with its reflective qualities and, at the same time, it provides a coherence to the space,” explains the architect. It sits next to the mirrored kitchen—another playful addition to the home—and it is only interrupted by a doorway made of San Sebastian sandstone, a common material in the region. “The doorway is a reflection on the geological layers of the city, nature, the raw material, and even The Comb of the Wind [a group of three monumental steel sculptures by the artist Chillida that sits on the edge of La Concha, the bay that San Sebastian is built around],” the architect adds.
In addition to the imposing central installation and the play of mirrors, the apartment is remarkable for its use of other unusual materials and innovative design solutions. In the center of the common area, a table that can easily be raised or lowered is made of reused Spanish granite and discarded pieces from local carpentry workshops. Daily life revolves around the table, which is capable of adapting to a variety of situations: a family dinner, moved to the side for a party, or serving as an impromptu office or worktop. The rest of the furniture, like the OMHU Teddy sofa bed and the mobile side tables and flowerpots on wheels, is similarly flexible.
