Carrer Avinyo by David Kohn Architects // Barcelona, Spain.

Do you recall my roundup of INSIDE World Festival of Interiors Shortlist a few of months ago? You know, that post dripping with shit hot images and super awesome interiors? Yes, you know the one. Well, believe it or not, ever since then I’ve been chasing the images of today’s project – beautiful apartment on Carrer Avinyó in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, designed by London studio David Kohn Architects. As luck would have it, this project was crowned The World Interior of the Year for 2013, and I’m not surprised about it one little bit. As amazing as all the other projects were, I was “done” the minute I spotted this apartment. Why? Because it’s totes amazbealls, that’s why. Let’s break it down, shall we?

Carrer Avinyó apartment is situated at a major crossroads in Barcelona. Like the Flatiron Building in New York, where Broadway meets the city’s orthogonal grid, the triangular plan of the apartment’s interior registers a similar moment in Barcelona’s historic quarter – Plaça George Orwell. The architects’ first intervention was to strip back the internal partitions to reveal the junction and reconnect living in the apartment to the streets beyond.

The apartment is the holiday home of two brothers who grew up in Barcelona but now live in London and Hong Kong. New bedrooms are created inside large pieces of furniture that have the appearance of small buildings – the city beyond the apartment walls is mirrored by a diminutive city within. The high-level library becomes balconies that connect each bedroom to their en-suite bathrooms. Beneath a balcony a glazed lobby provides a threshold between the apartment and the city.

The new mosaic floor is decorated with a triangular pattern that matches the geometry of the plan. The tile pattern is graded in colour from green at one end of the apartment to red at the other to differentiate the brothers’ private spaces. The tiles were made by Mosaics Martí who supplied the product for Gaudi’s projects in the city. A large, specially designed dining table stands at the street corner where the red and green are most mixed, signalling the meeting place for family and friends.

This is a wonderful bespoke interior with a one off aesthetic I haven’t really seen before. The mix of clever planning, unusual materials and colours, attention to detail, and the juxtaposition of heritage elements with contemporary insertions creates a gutsy and unique result. It’s so good that I’m almost willing to forgive then for the coffin looking table, and a somewhat underwhelming choice of soft seating. But other than that – ten points from me. (Which, come on – let’s face it, means so much more than winning the The World Interior of the Year, right? Ha!)

See more projects by David Kohn Architects on Yellowtrace.

See Yellowtrace coverage of INSIDE World Festival of Interiors 2013.

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[Images courtesy of David Kohn Architects.]