The homes that the residents had inhabited, remembered, and imagined take shape in the renovation project led by JAO Arquitectura in Granada, Spain. The apartment’s location offers views of both the surrounding urban and natural landscapes, yet its existing interior layout created isolated and disconnected spaces. The architectural proposal focuses on reorganizing the plan and creating interconnected areas by removing partitions while introducing distinct spatial units.

The residence is located in a 1979 housing block, part of an urban expansion that today sits close to Granada’s historic center.

While the location offered tranquility and privileged views towards the Alhambra, Sacromonte, and the Sierra Nevada mountains, the interior followed the standard model of its time: a central corridor distributing a sequence of closed, disconnected rooms.

By removing the partitions, the architects stripped the apartment back to its essentials—structure, service shafts, and façade openings.

From this exposed framework, JAO Arquitectura, led by Ana Sara Hidalgo and Jesús Barranco, embraced constraints as coordinates from which to unfold a new spatial order.

A home for all stages of life

Having lived in different places over the years, the clients sought a home that could embrace a new chapter while gathering echoes of the past—the homes they had inhabited, remembered, and imagined.

This idea became the foundation of a project conceived as a narrative, in which each transition and each space acts as a fragment of shared memory.

The guiding concept of “concatenated spaces” creates a continuous flow where each room leads naturally to the next, encouraging freedom of movement and multiplicity of use. Within this framework, three architectural figures materialize the fable of the house: the threshold, the chamber, and the garden.

The fable of threshold, chamber, and garden

The threshold draws inspiration from the southern Mediterranean tradition of transitional vestibules leading into the home. With irregular marble flooring, textured walls, and the gentle light from a window, it turns arrival into a sensory domestic ritual, setting the narrative tone from the very first step.

The chamber functions as an antechamber of intimacy. Characterized by a low ceiling and a vaulted surface painted deep blue, it changes the rhythm of the spatial sequence while accommodating practical storage and linking to the kitchen. It balances utility with atmosphere, acting as both passage and pause.

The garden reinvents a former enclosed terrace as an interior oasis—an inwardlooking retreat that frames views of the city while shielding inhabitants from urban noise. Glossy green tiles and natural vegetation create reflections that conjure a sense of calm seclusion. Central to the design, this space restores a direct connection with nature and fulfills the clients’ long-held wish.

A warm and serene domestic landscape

Beyond these emblematic spaces, the refurbishment aims to create an overall atmosphere of everyday comfort. The living–dining area is wrapped in oak paneling that integrates shelving while marking a gentle transition towards the study.

This gesture defines the boundary between public and private zones without interrupting spatial continuity.

Light, softened by surfaces and reflected through the garden, interlaces with natural wood tones and a muted color palette to construct a serene, welcoming atmosphere. The apartment is no longer a set of isolated rooms but an architectural narrative where each texture, threshold, and reflection contributes to a single fable of inhabiting.

ABOUT JAO ARQUITECTURA

Founded in 2013–2014 by Ana Sara Hidalgo Peregrín and Jesús Barranco Sanfrancisco, JAO Arquitectura operates at the intersection of practice, research, and dissemination. The studio understands architecture as a technical–artistic discipline capable of addressing the physical,  social, and political conditions of each context.

Every project is approached as an opportunity to test new ideas and methods, reconciling theory and practice through rigorous design processes. Research into architectural legacies, close attention to design development, and critical reflection underpin their practice.

JAO Arquitectura engages projects of varied scales and programs with the conviction that architecture can emerge in all of them. Rather than specializing, the studio prioritizes optimal solutions tailored to the specific needs of each commission. Their commitment to both users and the project itself translates into responses that balance technical precision, graphic clarity, cost and time efficiency, and an added value that transcends the immediate. For JAO Arquitectura, architecture ultimately belongs to those who inhabit it.

Facts & Credits
Title Apartment Renovation
Typology Interiors, Apartment, Renovation
Location Granada, Spain
Surface 189 m2
Status Completed, 2024
Architecture JAO Arquitectura
Photography Juanan Barros
Text by the authors 


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