Let There Be Light: Domingo in Barcelona by Aramé Studio.

In the Catelonian capital of Barcelona, sunshine follows you everywhere. Indoors and outdoors. Through summer and winter. From daybreak to dusk. Sometimes, even beyond. But as architects Andrea Arriola Fiol and Adrián Mellado Muñoz of Aramé Studio can confirm, that’s not always the case.

Their latest project, a residence in Barcelona’s Eixample district, used to be in the unlikely list of exceptions. “Gloomy, that’s what it was,” says Andrea of the property, which was as starved of light as of character when she and Adrián stepped in for the redesign.

The layout, as Adrián recalls, “was a tad too chaotic.” Indeed, no sooner had the pair begun designing—or redesigning—than they made a curious discovery: a secluded courtyard, detached from the living space, accessible through a narrow ladder. It was a welcome revelation.

The Red House in Barcelona by Aramé Studio.

Transformed from a once-upon-a-time factory, blends into the area’s industrial landscape inside, however, is an altogether different story...

More space meant more opportunities, which the pair resolved to put to good use by turning the courtyard into a verdant oasis and christening it the ‘Garden of Silence’. As the architects explain, another intervention of note was eschewing walls for windows—a move that proved golden in giving the sun pride of place indoors.

Not everything was reconfigured, least of all the living and dining rooms, whose original orientations the architects deemed worthy of preservation. So worthy, that they worked backwards, designing the furniture to follow the shape of the floor and walls.

Drab to Delightful: An Apartment in Madrid by Febrero Studio.

Most days, the sun and the breeze are faithful visitors in this Madrid apartment, refreshing the farthest corners and lifting the space up to the light...

The kitchen was treated similarly, minimally, with the only addition being an island, designed to sit lower than the windows so as not to cancel the natural light. As for the flooring, Andrea and Adrián attempted to straddle old and new by way of traditional hydraulic tiles arranged in a contemporary design.

There are many things to love about the home, but none more than the ‘fantasy room’. It’s a suite that makes magic with marble, wood and mirror, conjuring reflections and refractions, and giving the sun its due at long last.

Celebrating Structure & Permeability: Casa 1616 in Barcelona by H Arquitectes.

Wedged between two party walls, in the heart of densely-populated Barcelona this single home celebrates structure and permeability...

[Images courtesy of Aramé Studio. Photography by Del Rio Bani.]