Project: Apartment in Paseo San Juan
Architects: YLAB Architects
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Year: 2,152 sf
Photographs by: Courtesy of YLAB Architects
The project consists of the renovation of a modernist home located in a XIX century apartment building on the central Paseo San Juan in Barcelona.
The owners, an Australian couple in love with Barcelona, wanted to renovate the property to establish their residence in Europe. They needed to convert this old flat, in a very poor state of conservation, into a comfortable space where they could host visits from family and friends.
The challenge of the assignment is to incorporate a contemporary program of uses with a high degree of comfort, in a protected home with historical-artistic value, where the structure and the most valuable elements such as the Nolla mosaic flooring and the ceilings had to be maintained.
Functionally, the space is divided into two main areas on both sides of the entrance hall: the social and guest area, on the largest side of the house; and the private area, on the smaller side, which functions as a small private apartment. Both areas are redistributed and new spaces are created to meet the needs of the owners and preserve their privacy.
The design concept is inspired by the chromatic diversity of the mosaic flooring, different in each of the spaces. The larger rooms are treated with a Bauwerk lime paint in different desaturated tones and harmonizing with the flooring; and the custom furniture is finished in semi-satin lacquer of the same color. A connecting element, made up of baseboards and interior and exterior carpentry in a very dark brown color, runs through the space from one end to the other.
This element penetrates and envelops the smaller interior rooms, which, in combination with sophisticated artificial lighting and the use of reflective materials, are transformed into powerful and luminous spaces.
The final result is a precise balance between the conservation of pre-existing elements and a contemporary design with attention to detail, which make this home a quiet, sober and elegant space.
The original exterior windows are replaced with high-performance Roi wood carpentry to achieve the desired level of acoustic and thermal insulation. The rest of the custom carpentry work is designed by Ylab Arquitectos, executed by Valles Carpintería.
Access to the house is formed by a central vestibule that divides the space into two halves. This unit is marked by a restored original stained glass window. It is furnished with a wine-colored chest of drawers, a wool rug from Cumellas, a leather armchair from Bolia, and a painting by Carsten Beck from the Victor Lope gallery.
A dark brown lacquer double door gives access to the private area of the house. A corridor leads to the dressing room and the bathroom, located opposite each other. Both interior spaces are completely covered in custom carpentry in semi-satin dark brown lacquer. The dressing room includes
floor-to-ceiling wardrobes and a glass display case with interior lighting.
The main bathroom is equipped with cabinets with mirror fronts, and a double sink in Calacatta-type Michelangelo Soft porcelain by Laminam. All the black taps are from Cristina’s TV series. A dark steel and fluted glass divider gives privacy to the shower area and Duravit toilet. In front of them is a wall-mounted bathtub that juts out from the wall cladding with a small niche.
The en-suite bedroom has a large headboard upholstered in velvety fabric with indirect lighting. The lacquered bed and nightstand set is made to measure by Besform and is equipped with Bticino mechanisms in the same color. The bed is adorned with cushions and a knitted plaid from Materia Barcelona. On one of the side tables, two alabaster lamps from Carpyen.
In a corner next to the windows, a reading area with a yellow Knoll armchair from Domestico Shop, a Bolia marble table and a glass set from Sanna Völker. In the adjacent space is the study, separated from the bedroom by a glass partition. The studio is equipped with a blue lacquer cabinet with two double retractable doors, which hide a small kitchen finished in red oak veneer and Calacatta countertops. The desk is framed between a Cumellas rug and Jo Hummel’s art pieces from the Victor Lope gallery.
On the other side of the vestibule, the social and guest area leads, at the back, to the living space and the balcony, overlooking a large courtyard. The main kitchen and the living room coexist in the same room. The kitchen is made up of a wall kitchen unit and a suspended island, to give continuity to the floor, both finished in beige lacquer and Laminam porcelain of the same quality as the bathrooms.
A sculpture by Alberto de Udaeta from Pigment Gallery stands out above the island. It has an adjacent butler’s kitchen finished in dark lacquer, with a crockery glass cabinet.
The living room area is furnished by two sofas facing each other, several side tables, a brass floor lamp from Bolia and a marble table lamp from Carpyen.
Everything is centered around a circular wool and silk rug from Cumellas, under a large painting that dominates the space. On the façade side is the gallery, which serves as a dining room, with new exterior carpentry by Valles Carpintería. Next to the gallery is the balcony, with a colorful mosaic pavement in continuity with the interior Nolla mosaic.
The two guest bedrooms are fitted with bespoke lacquered furniture, including wardrobes, desk and double bunk bed. The guest bathroom also has a shower, for guest use.
The home is completed with new facilities to serve the new distribution and provide comfort. For the installation of air conditioning ducts, the existing gaps in the original doors have been used, as well as the free space above the false ceilings of hallways and small spaces. These new ceilings include extra thin Madel linear diffusers, which are complemented by new moldings to maintain the essence of the home. The electrical installation is completed with mechanisms from the Bticino Livinglight Air series in a nickel-plated finish, which combine perfectly with the color range of the home.
-Project description and images provided by YLAB Architects
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