Bilbao
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The tiny houses without a balcony will be history in the new constructions of the Basque Country. According to the new Housing decree that the Basque Government approved this Tuesday, and which will come into force at the end of the year, the homes that are built from now on will have to have a minimum area of 35 square metersto which a minimum of four additional square meters will have to be added to build a balcony.
As explained by the Basque Housing Minister, Iñaki Arriola, the objective of the decree is to incorporate the concept of «outer space» that has acquired great importance after the forced confinement imposed by the pandemic. In this way, outdoor spaces of up to 10 m2 will no longer count in terms of buildability.
The architects will be able to compensate in their designs for the lack of a balcony by expanding the space destined for the living room, although those meters, unlike those of the terrace, will count for the purposes of building.
In addition, the homes of the future will end with the old distribution of bedrooms. Until now, the usual thing is that the houses have a large main bedroom and other much smaller ones. From now on, however, all the rooms They must have a minimum area of 10 square meters and the size of the third can only be reduced as long as extra meters are added to the room. “The rooms will become multipurpose spaces where, in addition to sleeping, you can play or play”, explained Arriola.
gender perspective
The Basque Government wants the gender perspective to also be present in new constructions. This new architectural vision will be noted in the design of the buildings and common areas, where they must disappear nooks and crannies to increase security.
It will also be noticed in the interior distribution. With the new regulation, small kitchens will go down in history and from now on they must incorporate a minimum of between 7 and 12 square meters, depending on the total size of the home. The objective is that by expanding the space it is facilitated that there may be two people at the same time doing housework and thus promote the sharing of household chores.
In addition, the decree establishes that these areas where food is prepared will have “preferably the dimensions of a kitchen-dining room.” When this is not possible, both spaces, the kitchen and the dining room, must be “adjoining” or have a “visual connection” that allows the union between the two spaces to be maintained.
As Arriola explained, the objective of this regulation is to leave behind the “rigid dwellings” that have proliferated until now and create “more versatile and flexible». In other words, it is about the same dwelling being able to adapt over time to the different needs that arise in the same family without the need to do much work. “It is a rule that incorporates advanced regulation criteria,” Arriola summarized.
The decree approved this Tuesday will be published in September and will come into force by the end of the year. There will be a three-month transition period so as not to harm projects already underway. From that moment on, both the new promotions and all those families who want to carry out a comprehensive reform of their homes must adapt to it.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism