Our personalised Damero model with a hypnotic effect, maximising the space of this historic home evoking the essence of the sea
The salty aroma recalls the essence of the sea in this historic fisherman’s cottage from 1946, the Casa Cabanyal, in Valencia. The essence of this picturesque location is brought indoors in this small duplex renovated by Viruta Lab, experts in the conservation of historic buildings.
This home has unique sentimental value, conserving the family history and the memory of the fisherman grandfather who hung his nets on the façade at the end of every working day. The interior patio maintains the memories of these times with a woven bench and a traditional stone basin recovered by the Valencian design studio.
A humble dwelling that has been transformed into a modern and creative holiday home that exudes the atmosphere of former days in one of the trendiest neighbourhoods of the city.
The principal aim of the renovation project was to reinterpret the design of the original interiors, adapting them to contemporary needs with painstaking respect for the architecture of this historic jewel. The studio preserved the original distribution, typical of the fisherman’s area of El Cabanyal: two floors and a small attic joined by a central staircase.
The main floor has an open concept for the living area: kitchen, living room and bathroom that connect the entrance to the interior patio.
Above, the designers created two bedrooms with a complete and shared bathroom. The two floors are connected by a staircase which serves as a meeting point between past, present and future. The traditional granite steps have been preserved, incorporating black terrazzo on the landing and Hisbalit’s Damero mosaic tiles on the floor.
Respecting the past
Viruta Lab made painstaking efforts to respect the most characteristic and traditional elements of the original home: from the natural light entering the front door to the colour of the façade. They also restored the existing mouldings to give height and a nostalgic touch to the project leaving exposed brickwork above and contrasted with a two-colour mosaic tile carpet in marine blue and off-white on the floors and walls. A design with a subtle, hypnotic effect that maximises the space and gives unique personality to the home.
“Custom design”
Damero mosaic tiles were a typical feature of this neighbourhood and Viruta Lab wanted to incorporate it into the interior of the home as a designer surface in all the rooms: the kitchen, living room, bedrooms and bathrooms.
The studio used the Damero reference from Hisbalit’s Les Classiques collection in square, 4X4cm format, with personalised colours to create a unique, custom design for this project.
The furnishings were also custom designed by Viruta Lab due to the limited space in the home. Three principal materials were used: wood, painted in the same colour as the interior carpentry and woodwork, esparto textiles and green fabric to upholster the chairs.
The green fabric, combined with the marine blue Damero mosaic tiles, beautifully highlight the traditional colours of this type of traditional Valencian architecture.
PHOTOS: David Zarzoso
Project: Viruta Lab