Project: 2016
Construction: January/August 2017
Client: Private
Built surface: 110m2
Budget: <125.000€
Location: Raval neighborhood (Barcelona)
Architecture: Raúl Sánchez
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raulsanchezarchitects/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/raulsanchezarch
Instagram: @raulsanchezarchitects
Team:
Engineering: Marés ingenieros
Structure: Francisco Moyano
Architecture interns: Pau Just / Victor Lorente
Photography: José Hevia
Furniture courtesy of DomesticoShop

This is a view of the house showcasing the yellow structures that stand out against the white beamed ceiling, white floor and the white walls.

This is the black spiral staircase inside a large yellow and black structure making it stand out against the bright surroundings.

This is a look at the edge of the kitchen showcasing the cooking area that is behind the large yellow structure housing the staircase.

A few steps from the cooking area of the simple kitchen is a small round table for a breakfast nook by the indoor balcony with white railings.

This is a full view of the simple kitchen with its white modern cabinetry, stainless steel appliance and a small dining set across from it.

This is the far opposite corner of the kitchen showcasing a glass sliding door and a fiberglass floor panel with a view of the lower floor.

This is a look at the bedroom with a large bed inside a yellow and black structure and a bathroom on its side.

This is the other side of the bed structure with a white cabinet that blends perfectly with the white floor, walls and beamed ceiling.

The powder room has a white porcelain toilet next to a floating modern vanity brightened by the glass panel on the far wall.

This is a close look at the living room with a couple of orange chairs on a red patterned area rug that makes it stand out against the white floor.

This is a close look at the large yellow structure that houses the staircase as viewed from the living room area that has a tall white ceiling.

On the side of the yellow structure is a hallway that leads to the foyer on the far side.

This is a view of the living room area from the vantage of the hallway showcasing the tall ceiling, indoor balcony and beamed ceiling above.

This is the side of the living room directly beneath the glass flooring panel of the second floor with a single chair and a glass sliding door that leads to the outdoor areas.

This is the entrance to the staircase structure with a yellow and black tone from the vantage of the foyer that has a white modern cabinetry on the side that has a faucet.

This is a closer look at a couple of doorways with black frames and yellow walls and a view of the colorful wall decoration on the far side.

This is a look at the colorful wall murals that stand out against the simple white and yellow tones of this area that puts the focus on the decorations.

A few steps from the detailed mural wall is the shower area that has bright walls and flooring behind a glass door.

The house has a simple white corner of white walls that make the black chair and red area rug underneath it stand out.

A few steps from the black chair and red area rug is a frosted glass door that contrasts with the yellow walls.

This is the hallway with colorful murals on one side and yellow walls on the opposite side bathed in natural light from the living room in the distance.

This is a look at the house during its construction.

This is a 3D representation of the whole house showcasing the white walls, floor and large yellow structures.

This is an illustrated representation of the house showcasing the yellow structures that stand out and the built-in cabinetry of the kitchen.

This is an illustrated representation of the house showcasing the yellow structures that stand out and the glass doors leading to the outdoor areas on one side.

This is an illustrated floor plan for the first and second floor of the house showing the different sections and structures.

This illustrated representation of the house shows the different pieces of the house that are brought together to assemble the house.

This is the side elevation of the house showing the structures and walls and sections of the house through a wall.

This is an illustrated representation of the side elevation of the house showcasing the placement of the wall murals.

This is a map depicting the location of the house marked red.

This is an illustration of the foundation and base structures of the house with various notes.

The starting point was two independent dwellings on top of each other on the ground floor and mezzanine of a modest, old apartment building between dividing walls in the heart of the Raval (Barcelona). Both dwellings were in an absolute state of neglect and disrepair.

The client’s requirement was to concentrate the main living spaces on the mezzanine floor and expand them on the ground floor with other spaces with more diffuse functions that could be used as living room, study, work area…

The proposal is clear and direct: in the middle of the space, insert two 2-meter side squares rotated 45º over the dominant axis, their vertices overlapping without touching the original walls, and extruded through both floors. A simple and resounding arrangement in which two ideal shapes, two perfect extruded squares, are imposed on the existing irregularity and arrange all the floor space without the need for any other means or elements.

One of the squares will hold the stairs communicating both floors, and the other will house the bedroom on the upper floor and the toilet and office spaces on the ground floor. The very rotation of these squares results in the specialization of the space around it without needing any additional doors or enclosures (except those that provide the required privacy to bathrooms and bedrooms), since the new volumes, as they approach and move away from the perimeter walls, define these areas.

The proposal’s emphasis runs parallel to the sought-after inner spatial complexity and a firm intention to underplay the different areas and circulation. Thus, the stairs are enclosed in one of the volumes, and their spiral pattern aims to disorient and conceal to surprise at the landings; for the same purpose, there are multiple axes of symmetry that double up circulation and enhance the spatial experience, for example, at the landing on the ground floor with two possible exits, or all those axes that are placed at the squares’ vertices; the enclosed bathroom area on the upper floor, the most isolated and private of the whole, mirrors and unfolds its negative space, a double-height empty area linking both floors; the highly reinforced top floor structure is cut off before touching the façade to reach it with a glazed floor pane, linking both floors, and thus isolating the existing façade wall, including the outer sliding carpentry are placed in that wall’s interior plane; no element touches the volumes, which are read independently inside, ending just before they touch the ceiling; lights, door knobs, shower heads, drains … all elements replicate the 45° turn with respect to the surface where they are inserted …

The treatment of colors and materials highlights the two extruded volumes, which are coated in glossy, gold finish paint mixed with gold powder and varnished, surrounded by white cladding (microcement and paint) covering and coating the existing perimeters.

The inside of the staircase dug into one of the volumes, is a dark world of black contrasting with the exterior whites, just as the bed area in the bedroom, excavated into another of the volumes and covered with painted OSB wood boards and varnished in black.

The door frames (all glass) and openings are either brass or black steel, depending on the area to which they give access; hinges and handles are also brass or chrome … The material and color code always matches the nature of the element where it is applied, whether existing or new, either inside the squares or outside.

From the outset, the structural intervention required overhauling the foundation, high precision in placing the central squares, as well as the precise cutting of the existing wooden beams for the openings and double heights. The cut wooden beams either rest on the new steel porticos or lean on the lower wing of the new beams, always for the purpose of allowing the clean extrusion of the squares.

The duplex is equipped with underfloor heating with a highly efficient air-therm system.
On the ground floor, three existing paintings of Brazilian origin have been preserved, and the proposed inside circulation places them right at the stairs exit. These paintings are the reason the client, of Brazilian origin herself, initially decided to buy these two properties and undertake the project.