SF18 Apartment

Interior renovation of an apartment at Barcelona`s Eixample

The existing interior space was an archetype of a Barcelona’s Eixample flat. Space configuration – based on small rooms concatenation – and its characteristic constructive elements – such as the hydraulic flooring, high ceilings with moldings, old wooden windows and doors, a free height of 350cm, or some singular elements like a wall fireplace – remained intact. The main goals for the project were the following:

• To enhance the defining elements of the flat, to preserve the essence of the existing space. We wanted to be be possible to relate the interior space we designed to the kind of building where it is placed.
• To change the space configuration, to let the light arrive to every room in the flat. Te original configuration had too many dark rooms in the inner part of the building.

The configuration proposal for the flat, is developed around a main living space in the furthest part from the street. There, we find the dining area, the living and a reading area related to a large library that accompanies these spaces without walls. The kitchen is visually related to this space through a guillotine window. Parallel to this day zone we find the main room, that includes a dormitory, a dressing room and a bathroom. In contact with the street, two existing rooms were conserved as they were. In them we find a secondary dormitory, and a study room.

In the spaces where were the most quality floorings, they were preserved. In the other spaces, where it was mandatory to put a new pavement, we installed an old oak chevron parquet. In the main bathroom and the kitchen, floor and some walls were covered with tiles from the Azulej series designed by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina. They are porcelain stoneware pieces that review the old hydraulic tiles that we had on the original flat. The height in the flat was conserved, and when necessary, the new ceilings adopted the language of the moldings in the edges and in the central parts. The colour palette chosen for the walls looks for create a cosy and comfortable ambience, with the use of modern and atemporal colours. The furniture used is modern style, belonging to the american 1950s trends, with a touch of nordic design. Contemporary pieces are mixed with chairs designed by the Eames, and some other furniture inherited from the family.

ORIGINAL STATE PICTURES: