Total renovation project of a house in a 1920’s building located in the neighborhood of Poblesec, Barcelona.

The shape of the house is almost square and has the main facade on the north and the rear facade on the south. The original distribution consisted of a central corridor that distributed north and south, with small compartments, typical of at the time. The condition of the spaces did not take advantage of the light, nor the ventilation, nor the original height that was under a false ceiling.

The need to convert it into an open dwelling making the most of the square meters will be the idea to follow in the renovation of the apartment.

On the one hand, the creation of diversity and flexibility of the spaces so that they can adapt to the different needs of use according to the moment.

Normally the owner works at home so the studio had to be generous and spacious.

Another requirement was that she could have guests to sleep and she could work at the same time. Also the fact that she likes to cook and invite friends over to share the table and cook together, lead to the need for the front side panel of the island to become a dining table next to the kitchen island unit. Thus the total space can be a studio, a bedroom, living room or dining room depending on the need of the moment. This polyvalence of use of the space was the starting point of the project.

The uses of each space have been established and articulated the different areas with sliding doors of two different textures, semi-opaque and opaque.

The line that is integrated to the horizontal wooden beam to hold the sliding doors is similar to the “KAMOI”, Japanese word and construction system that from the top with a guide integrated horizontally between beams will make the doors sliding.

Marking both horizontal and vertical lines that have been born from the “KAMOI” expresses generous features.

The upper part of this horizontal wooden beam is also used for storage.

The kitchen and bathroom incorporate the existing windows to be able to hang clothes or connect the large space and not lose the original style of the apartment.

Then, it was necessary to choose the handcrafted materials that through color and natural shades will mark the areas both vertically and horizontally.

The wood material will mark the horizontal or vertical elements to highlight the space or connection, providing translucency or utility.

The color and material of the floor, parquet and porcelain, marks the zones. Especially the area of the table and exit to the balcony as if it were semi-outdoor “DOMA” for both the kitchen and bathroom.

And finally, the green color that has been introduced vertically as if it were vertical “TATAMI”.

Structurally, metal beams are introduced perpendicular to the line of the sliding doors. These lines also mark the axis of space and identify the characters of the functions and the differences in heights with different textures of materials.

The need to gain polyvalence and natural light in the interiors is solved with the creation of new features. With them, it was possible to create the effect that light crosses the space and the ventilation of the house is also guaranteed.

Without being a large house, it has created a sensation, a utility and a flexibility that give amplitude to the spaces and that can be appreciated from any point of the house.