All-Yellow Duplex in Sant Gervas by Arquitectura-G.

If you’re up for a pop of yellow, this comprehensive renovation of a duplex in Barcelona will be just your cup of tea. The north-oriented, two-storey apartment in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, is located on the upper side of town, in one of its largest and well to do areas. Local architects, Arquitectura-G, well known for their progressive, design-forward projects, have taken this family home and given it a burst of sunshine.

“We decided to use materials with a light colour to reinforce the light reflection in some areas and to reverse the lack of natural light,” said the designers.

The simple application of the same colour has a striking visual impact on the design. It both brightens the space and gives the house its unique character and identity. There are not many surfaces in this place that haven’t been given a bit of yellow love. From the pale-yellow, stoneware glazed tiles in the stairwell and kitchen, to the application of paint on the walls and the lemon-coloured carpet upstairs. A bright yellow metal balustrade meets the same buttercup yellow gridded-steel tread on the stairs and floor of the upper balcony. This metal grid is cleverly employed as shelves in the, yes you guessed it, yellow kitchen joinery. The house is every inch industrial chic. Even the sectional sofa came to the party dressed in the colour de jour.

See more project by Arquitectura-G on Yellowtrace here.

Yellow accoutrements aside, the apartment is bathed in natural light. Arquitectura-G have created a double-height living space by partially demolishing the second-floor slab and by adding additional windows to the façade. The 6-metre space feels airy and light, in no part helped by the application of white walls, offering a canvas for the yellow beehive of activity throughout the rest of the space. The use of tropical timber on the living room floor, transitioning from the inside to the outside terrace allows for continuity and adds warmth to the apartment.

The public spaces, the kitchen, living, and dining are located on the ground floor, along with the parents’ bedroom. The first floor has been allocated to the children, a delicate ribbon wall, covered in a light-yellow plaster, separating the two bedrooms. A shared study overlooks the double-height space of the living room below.

It is no small feat to take a single colour and apply it liberally to almost every surface. However, the highly sophisticated use of tonal variants of the same colour applied to different materials within the apartment, makes this interior not only a bright place to come home to, but also the one that’s sure to cheer people up on even the most miserable of days.

[Images courtesy of Arquitectura-G. Photography by José Hevia.]