A chronicle of Barcelona’s homes

From office to home

This used to be an office. To turn these rooms into a real home, our architect drew up a design for converting the space to residential use. Change-of-use and renovation permits are issued by the city authorities (ayuntamiento), and the timing is out of our hands: we waited 4 months for them. The design together with all licences cost 7 200 €. And here is the result: an apartment you want to live in.

What the ceilings were hiding

Under a layer of plaster and a suspended ceiling we found Catalan brick vaults. They could have been covered up again, but the client’s designer decided otherwise: she kept the vaults in the design and made them the main feature of the apartment.

What we kept

The Catalan vaults stayed in the apartment.

Progress of the work

The apartment was gradually becoming itself. The vaults are already plastered and skim-coated, panel mouldings and cornices have appeared on the walls, while the rooms are still full of scaffolding, tools and building dust. This stage is not very photogenic, but it is the one that decides how everything will look afterwards.

What we did

Marble in the bathroom, a terrazzo island, 120×120 parquet-look tiles throughout, green walls and soft light. A modern apartment that is still an old Barcelona house.

Before and after

What we did

How it was

This is how the apartment looked before the work: an old tiled kitchen, glazed partitions, parquet, a fireplace and cupboards.

Progress of the work

The apartment had been built using the local technique. Under thick porcelain tiles lay a screed, and under it a huge layer of sand: when we opened the floor, it had to be carted away in 57 big bags. We removed everything that does not hold the building up: all non-load-bearing partitions and walls, floors and ceilings. Only the load-bearing structure and an empty space that could be drawn anew remained.

Result

From this we made this. Everything was done to a new design: new partitions and completely new building services. An apartment that kept almost nothing of its former life got a new one, thought through to the last detail.

Progress of the work

When we joined the project, the house was in developer’s shell condition, that is, without finishing. We completely redid the electrics, plumbing and ventilation, and then carried out the full finishing of the whole house.

Result

The main work is hidden under the finishing: new electrics, plumbing and ventilation. In plain sight is a restrained black-and-white finish throughout, a light floor and the clean lines of minimalism.