Site Specific: Apartment in Gràcia

Parramon + Tahull arquitectes - Barcelona, 2022

PTa This is a home for a family of four on the top floor of a 1900's apartment building located in the centre of the Gràcia district in Barcelona, Spain. A previous refurbishment had already removed all the original woodwork, floors and panelling and so the only remained original elements were the timber beams which were stripped and preserved.

The three façades remain almost unchanged, but the aluminium windows were replaced with wooden ones, closely matching the original glazing used in the building. A new floor extends throughout the whole apartment, utilising small units of fired clay to create a greater sense of spaciousness and uniting the interiors.

Within the volume of the ceiling, floor and façades a new wooden "box" is built. Outside the box includes the kitchen, shelves and storage while, inside, the bedrooms of the teenage daughters are enclosed. The placement of the kitchen prompts the distribution of other spaces along the spine of the apartment, moving from relatively public to private spaces: at one end is the common area (kitchen, living room and dining room) and at the opposite end are the parents' bedroom and the bathroom.

Although the apartment is compact, each space is designed with precision to allow the interior routes to be fluid and to allow natural light to reach every corner of the house.

The large volume for storage, essential in a permanent family home, has also been designed in detail. A large dressing room- cum-storage room occupies the centre of the house and a nook for a desk (borrowing space from the corridor) is reserved for occasional teleworking. All the furniture is bespoke, using the same range of colours and materials to give a sense of serenity and order to the whole.

Materials are natural and sustainable (marble, mosaic, wood). Thermal comfort is achieved at all times of the year with different strategies: heating with water radiators in winter, artificial air conditioning and cross ventilation in summer and ceiling fans in between seasons.

NOTES

Thanks to Emma and everyone at Parramon + Tahull arquitectes for sharing this project with us.

Photography © Judith Casas Sayós.

Posted 11th August 2022.