The main concept was to create a house with different qualities where every habitant will be able to find its own spot, but at the same time flow between spaces will connect them. So people who live the house can choose to isolate or be more public. My intention was to create an environment that you will be able to modify according to your needs and that will be able to adapt at your nowadays and future needs.

DESIGN GUIDELINES
In order to add the spaces that you want and expand the square meters of the house without burdening the existing structure, the main addition should be at the ground floor. This would lead to the minimum structural transformation because if a bigger expansion was proposed at the upper floors the construction would become complicated and difficult.
So this crucial matter was the first step to guide the functional program. For the reason above the more public spaces of the house (those that will have daily use or are related with guests and should have easy access) and those that demand the most square meters are placed at the ground floor where there is the biggest possibility for expansion. On the upper floors I propose to have more private spaces that demand less square meters. Specifically I designed the bedrooms at the first floor where there is balance between privacy and accessibility and at the last floor I placed the study room and the gym that will have a more rare use and could be more isolated.

FUNCTIONAL PROGRAM
Ground Floor: Living area, WC, Pantry, Kitchen, Secondary living area, Entertainment area, Storage/Laundry
First Floor: Master Bedroom, Bedroom, Bathroom, Secondary living space
Second Floor: Gym, Study room, Bathroom with Sauna

BASIC ELEMENTS THAT INFLUENCED THE CONCEPT
An environment which adapts to the needs of a modern family: A house where flow at the circulation and flexibility of spaces give the chance to create an environment which can comply with the dynamic living of a family now and at the future.
Lightful spaces and connection with outdoors: Big windows and skylights put the light inside the house with different ways that create spaces with different qualities and with the feeling that borders between in and out are loose. At the same time it is achieved permeability and pleasant spaces full of light.
Making the green go up: Even if it is a building with three floors, my main intention was to give space for planteries at the upper floors in order to create a green house. This means that in every room there will be the feeling of a natural garden which is important in order to create pleasant spaces where the indoor can feel like outdoor.
Dynamic facade: all this flexibility which comes up with the dynamic everyday living of a family was a key factor that influenced the façade too. For this reason a façade with sliding wooden panels was created for the first floor (which is the bedrooms floor/the most private floor). This element creates more privacy feeling which suits with the rooms that are placed on that floor and gives the opportunity to be transformed.

WALKING THE HOUSE: GROUND FLOOR
Entering the plot there is the parking area and the entrance of the house. From that point someone can enter the house from the main door, enter from a secondary door at the storage space or lead through a path at the main garden of the house.
The main entrance is centrally placed. On the northwest part there are the living areas with big corner windoors that allow the view to the garden and create the feeling of being outside. All these space can expand to the exterior garden where there is an exterior dinning area, a bbq and a secondary living area between the plants of the garden. On the southeast side of the entrance and centrally placed (related to the total space of the ground floor) there is the kitchen (the kitchen can be enlarged like I indicate at the floorplan). Around the kitchen unfold all the living areas of the house. Apart from the main living area that was described above, there is a secondary dinning area that can work as expansion of the kitchen counter, a sitting area where you could enjoy your coffee and an entertainment room that can be used as a secondary living area, too. At the southeast part of the plot it is placed an auxillary zone that its spaces are useful to be connected with the exterior entrance space. Specifically it contains the wet kitchen which needs to have natural ventilation and is connected directly with the dry kitchen. Also next to it there is the storage & laundry room that has a secondary entrance from the parking area. This is useful as someone could transfer something directly from or to the storage space without entering the house.
The ground floor has big windows, a big skylight with garden and a double height space with a big window above. This allows the light to come in with various ways and create pleasant spaces with different qualities.
My intention was to concentrate most of the spaces at the back and leave a big corner garden which will allow better connection with the exterior. In that way when the windoors are open the interior will be feeling like exterior.
An additional point that should be noticed is the flexibility of the kitchen and the entertainment room. The entertainment room has a bold curtain which allows it to be open and connected with the rest space or closed in order to create a quite space to enjoy a movie. Similarly the kitchen can have its sliding parts open and work as an open space or can be closed like a wooden secret box.

WALKING THE HOUSE: FIRST FLOOR
Someone can lead to the first floor through a staircase which is directly connected with entrance and the living areas of the ground floor. At this floor I have placed the bedrooms. This floor is separated with a void in the middle. At the southeast side there is the kid’s area and while at the northwest the master bedroom. Directly connected with the staircase there is a flexible space which could work as a kid’s play area, as a study space or as a guest room. This space has wooden sliding panels that allow to be open at continuity with the rest spaces or closed like a separate room. Furthermore there is a kid’s bedroom with a bathroom that could be ensuite or not. On the other side, connected with a corridor which crosses the void, there is the master bedroom with bathroom and walking closet. Both rooms have east openings that allow the morning sun to get in. There is also a perimetric balcony at which there is access from the bedrooms.
Considering the privacy of these rooms there is a perimetric plantery which creates a green border and a façade with sliding wooden panels. These wood panels can slide in order to have the windows totally open or closed to create more privacy and more atmospheric feeling. Moreover at the northwest part of the plot, where the master bedroom is located, there are high palm trees. All these constitute layers of visibility that escalate the privacy of the rooms.
At last if the need of extra space come up at the future there is possibility for extra expansion. Firstly the secondary space next to the kid’s bedroom could be totally closed and an extra bedroom could be created if needed. Also another option is to close the void and create at its place more space.

WALKING THE HOUSE: SECOND FLOOR
At the second floor I placed the gym and the study room as I think they will have the most rare use and It would be nice to be more isolated. I designed the study room at the north part because the light is stable and suitable for studying places. Furthemore there is wide view range while being at that space. This creates a place that can offer relaxing moments of studying. On the other side I placed the gym. Between those two there is a bathroom with sauna which works better in combination with the gym than the initial intention to be at placed at the master bedroom. Both spaces have big openings and big planteries that give the sense of an outdoor living.

WALKING THE HOUSE: EXTRA FACTS
Firstly I wanted to have multiple storage spaces that service its space in order to be sure that it is enough for the needs of your family. This is why I designed storage closets at every floor.
Furthermore I wanted each floor to have bathroom in order to be easy to access and keep the autonomy of the different uses. For example if you are training at the gym it would be tiring to go downstairs to use the bathroom for a while and then go up again.
At last at the second floor, the covered exterior part of the gym is proposed to be a pergola and not a solid surface in order to put more light at the gym and at the plantery beyond. However I didn’t have time to make this change at the renders.

VERSION B
There is a proposal for a version B which is in case you cannot expand the slab at the first and at the second floor. All the spaces are the same but the distribution is a bit different because in this occasion there are some “lost” corners. Furthermore at this version you can see how an extra bedroom would be at the place of the void.

FLEXIBILITY ACCORDING TO YOUR NEEDS
This has been designed in order to transform and adapt according to the way you want. Most spaces have sliding elements that give the opportunity to have an open area which feels more public and works with the rest spaces of the house OR a closed room which feels more private. So when these spaces become closed, then they can work separately from the rest house and host different uses. While when they are open the create flow at the circulation and all the spaces connect and work as a unity. For example at the entertainment room when the curtain is open it can work as a secondary living room when it’s closed it can be transformed at isolated TV room.

DEMOLITION AND NEW STRUCTURES
As I mentioned before I tried to make the less changes possible in order to expand the space and not to burden the existing structure. Firstly you can see at the demolition plans the additional square meters and the compliance of the new walls according to the legislation. Apart from the demolition of the most interior walls I propose:
-Demolition a part of the slab in order to create a bigger void which will make the space fill bigger and will add more light at the dinning area and at the zone of the staircase.
-reinforcement of the staircase’s sidewall (boundary with neighbour) and placement of a metal light structure which would allow to redesign a more contemporary staircase and the corridor which connects the parts of the slabs with different heights. A lighter staircase would be a significant matter for the feeling of the space because the staircase would become a vibrant element for the space. The staircase in front of the double height space and beyond the skylight of roof would be lightened a lot and would be like a sculpture for the interior. Furthermore the corridor is important to be redesigned as it distributes the circulation from the staircase to the rest spaces and is important to be comfortable.
*in any case the new staircase has been based on the design of the existing one. So if the construction that is proposed cannot be realized we could move on with the existing staircase and corridor.
-Expansion of the slab. I propose to expand the slab mainly at the ground floor and at few small parts at the first and second floor. The expansion at the upper floor would give at the spaces a more geometrical and rectangular shape which allows better use of the space. A light structure system could work in combination with the slab to realize these small expansions.
-Creation of a new flat roof that will use the existing columns.

MATERIALS AND TEXTURES
For the palette of this project I chose bright colors and natural textures as wood and stone in order to create a pleasant environment which connects good with the natural.
At the exterior some dark details like the roof and the coating tile of planteries create contrast with rest elements.
At the same time bianco and beize tiles with slightly rough feeling and light coloured walls create a smooth palette that its bright tones switch and combine differently at each space of the house. At some spaces I used wooden elements for the flooring, the ceiling or the wall cover to create a contemporary tropical atmosphere and give some tense to the basic palette that has been used. Following the same orientation I chose furniture with bright fabrics and some dark wooden details that create a unity with the rest materials.

PLANTING
Firstly, I propose to keep the existing palm trees. Furthermore at the groundfloor I propose to enhance the garden with some high and low bush plants and create a green perimetric wall with climbing plant. At the planteries of the upper floors I propose hanging plants.

It is obvious that many “nests” where someone can sit have been created. The goal is that the family members will be able to find some semi private and semi public spaces beyond the privacy of their bedrooms and the more public character of the living & dinning area. At last but not least, the goal was to create a house with sunny and pleasant spaces that at the same time will make easy its everyday stay.