PARRAMON + TAHULL ARQUITECTES

Comprehensive reform of an apartment with three facades in a 1900 building in the Sants district of Barcelona.

We seeked to create a calm and sober atmosphere, with natural materials, keeping a low building budget.

As the family program of the flat is just for two persons we could provide open spaces, avoiding rigidity, and bringing natural light everywhere.

The apartment had been previously reformed with little criteria, so first we had to remove the previous layers in order to discover the original elements (such as floors, ceilings) to recover the original atmosphere.

The living room opens to the gallery space, previously closed and partially occupied by the bathroom.

Spaces are expanded and permeabilized, generating a greater visual amplitude.

Most of the original hydraulic pavements have been preserved and recovered, which take center stage due to their intense colors, in contrast to the white of the walls and ceilings. Where it has not been possible, white marble and porcelain stoneware are used.

All new elements are exposed wood (birch plywood for the custom furniture and pine wood for the windows). On the other hand, the existing woodwork (interior and exterior) have been painted white, allowing a clear view of the new and the pre-existing.

All materials are natural and sustainable (marble, mosaic, wood). No artificial air conditioning is used, only cross ventilation and ceiling fans.

source: Parramon + Tahull arquitectes