A memoir

My childhood is filled with memories of this place.

“A pile of stones” is a rather playful description for this building in its former state of disrepair. Having been inhabited by multiple generations of families, represented by the hardship of peasants and fishermen trying to survive among the razor-sharp limestone weathered by the salty spray of a rough coast known for taking lives – some of whom I played with as a child, the emptiness after people left for other continents due to famine and war, the hippies that would populate this vacant place once again – seeking the simplicity of sea, salt, and the sun, with a minimal request for shelter. I loved having to walk a mile for fresh water (I still do through habit, although 12 m3 of cold freshwater are now stored below the basement) and, in the old days, we piled up on the floors at night – sometimes up to15 people on roughly 40 m2. over three bare stories. And all this time, the rain and wind ate up the mortar of these roughly built stone walls which are not made of Venetian marble, just whatever fragments of stones that had been laying around – until it literally collapsed on top of the last trace of hippie-ness on a rainy September morning.

To overcome the romantic attachment to this structure a exciting perspective had to be introduced to the owners in order to take on the burden of reinvent the building and its living conditions.

Decisions

The main transformation of the building is the interconnection of every available space into one habitable structure with the extension of an additional roof level, which provides a view of the sea – a desire that until now was never fulfilled within the narrow alleys of the old village. The one element that makes this possible is a minimally sized spiral staircase that starts in the basement (witch is now the entrance level) and winds its way up through two more floor levels until it straightens out to the last run parallel to the roof ridge to exit on to a roof terrace cut out of the original silhouette of the building. To convert the remaining 180 m2. of each level and therefore expand that space beyond a generous landing, the staircase is enclosed in a wooden shell. This barrel has multiple sections that swing open to allow access to the staircase, to isolate the floor from the staircase, and to provide the option of dividing each floor into two separate zones. This last configuration allows for a playful adaptation of space in order to create different modes of circulation and privacy.

Task

The building is located at the end of a narrow alley. Every bucket of dirt had to be carried back to the nearest road, every package of cement went the other way, and every drop of water had to be pumped through a hundred yards of hose. Only a local contractor was willing to do this – that is, utilizing his own range of materials and techniques.
The main task was the replacement of all wood floor with concrete floor slabs which were bolted into the exterior walls for structural stability. Each floor slab had a steel ring cast in place in order for the spiral staircase to pass through it. These rings were connected to the reinforcing bars and project above and below the slab, serving as mounting brackets for the wooden enclosure. The roof was rebuilt with a concrete form that defines the terrace with its concrete benches, the enclosure and landing of the straight end portion of the stair, and the tilted rear roof.
The surface mortar of the 60 cm wide walls was removed – to the point where one could see through it in some places – and a new layer of stucco was applied on both sides in order to straighten the interior side and protect the exterior from the elements.
Two more additional windows were cut as repetitions of the existing ones into the exterior wall to allow for additional ventilation.
In the former basement – now the entrance to the building – one side is divided with 1.80 m high walls (leaving the exposed concrete ceiling untouched) in order to define a bathroom with a shower, and a wine cellar. These are the only interior partitions. All other divisions of spaces are only made possible through the moveable sections of the staircase’s enclosure. On the next level, there is a small kitchen next to the door that leads to the lower terrace.
A cistern was dug into the rock below the basement. The former outhouse – located in a small exterior arcade – became the mechanical room for a hot water boiler, water pump and pressure tank. For the two upper floor, electric floor heating was cast into the concrete slabs to provide comfort early and late in the season. These features plus a basic electrical system were the only mechanical additions.

Material

To isolate the exposed concrete ceiling, the walls (mineral) and the floor (epoxy) were painted white. A significant reveal separates the walls from the ceiling and floor, which project further to connect to the vertical structure.
All steelwork arrived prefabricated on site in portable elements. After assemblage, all the steel was painted with RAL 7034.
The slats for the wooden enclosure of the staircase were milled into a trapezoid with a round notch in order to hold a wood rod for better joinery. Every third slat was connected to the steel rings, which surround the openings in the floor slabs.