VI02 is a single-family home located in La Garriga, in the Vallès Oriental, nestled between party walls and organised over three levels. With openings to the street on the main façade and to the garden on the rear façade, the house features a traditional gabled roof that accommodates a second floor beneath the attic. At its core lies a narrow vertical circulation zone that has long created a dark, compressed centre to the home.
The project begins with a clear intention: to enhance the connection between interior and exterior on both façades while transforming the spatial quality at the centre of the house. The intervention respects the rustic ceramic tones typical of the area, while setting the stage for a much brighter, more open and contemporary way of living.
The primary architectural gesture is the complete reconversion of the central staircase core. Instead of connecting the floors solely on a functional level, the project introduces a new open-air interior courtyard—a vertical void that links all three levels visually and spatially. This move floods the heart of the home with natural light and fresh air, turning what was once a dark and compressed zone into a bright and active centre.
To reinforce this transformation, the staircase is relocated to one of the party walls, allowing the courtyard to become the new organising element of the project. Generous openings and expanded communal areas on both façades strengthen the dialogue between inside and outside, redefining the home’s daily rhythms and the way light travels through it.
The new courtyard becomes the architectural protagonist, connecting all levels through light, air and visual continuity. Rooms and circulations are rethought to take advantage of this new central void, ensuring that each floor benefits from direct natural illumination—an uncommon feature in houses between party walls. The intervention not only opens up the home but also creates a stronger sense of unity across the three levels.
By embracing the region’s material palette—warm ceramics, earthy textures and natural tones—the project preserves the local identity while infusing the house with new energy. VI02 evolves from a dim and heavily partitioned structure into a luminous, vibrant home where visual connections replace physical barriers, and where light becomes the defining element of daily life.
