House Built Over a Former City Water Tank in Madrid by Valdivieso Arquitectos

A former water cistern in Madrid is transformed into a stunning home by Valdivieso Arquitectos. After a series of alterations and uses overtime, the two-level cistern reached its final incarnation in 1955. Dubbed Casa Aljibe, the completely retrofitted cistern is now a family home that interacts with its natural surrounds and also nestles itself cosily into the rocky terrain.

The Casa Aljibe has a sweeping curved facade of glass that overlooks and opens onto a central paved outdoor area. This upper level is forms part of the new build and houses the common areas such as the kitchen, living room and dining area. Impressively sculptural in form, this level is constructed using a prefabricated system where panels of plywood are laminated in a workshop and assembled on-site onto a new metal structure that doesn’t interfere structurally with the existing stone, brick and concrete. According to the architect, the design of the envelope of the new volume was created with “a high degree of thermal insulation while also optimizing natural lighting and natural cross ventilation.”

The lower level houses the bedrooms and bathrooms in a partially buried section of the building that was once used as a warehouse. Here the architects played with the location of the private spaces, flanking both bedrooms and bathrooms with large pane windows that blur the line between inside and outside. The rear patio is accessible from the lower level which provides natural relief as well as privacy with the addition of a protective concrete wall and a corrugated shade roof.

Sometimes a building can no longer function with its original use and it’s encouraging when a contemporary layer can be added to create a new future. Historic buildings give us a glimpse of our past and lend character to our communities as well as serving practical purposes now. In the pursuit of sustainable development, communities have much to gain from adaptively reusing historic buildings and Casa Aljibe is an exceedingly successful example of this. Well played Valdivieso Arquitectos!