Quirky Barcelona Apartment by Cirera+Espinet

It’s always a treat taking a peek inside another designer’s home, especially when they are the work of a young designer, because – let’s face it – most of the time these spaces are not only clever, they are also proof that creativity and ingenuity shouldn’t be limited by small budgets. Todays apartment in Barcelona is no exception. Owned by one of the clever ladies from Cirera+Espinet, this duplex apartment is a hot bed of ideas, where Mariona Espinet and Cristina Cirera could play with complete freedom and experiment with colours, textures and volumes – all with a relatively low investment of money.

The primary aim for the project was to increase natural light access and to maximise it’s use. The new windows needed to allow maximum light penetration while also offering privacy, which lead the designers to chose the humble Glass Block – a material that was very fashionable in the 70s. In addition to offering a dual solution, glass blocks offer high thermal, noise and impact resistance, while providing a perfect aesthetic fit for the concept. Bingo! The new window become a sort of a ‘lantern’ for the project, bringing life inside the apartment.

The limited project budget dictated some of the material choices, such as the bright white Formica (laminate) used for the perimeter joinery, including the kitchen. The designers played with the material edges, conceptually drawing vertical lines on joinery elevations, thereby creating random patterns that add visual interest. The flooring in the apartment was treating like an outdoor ‘pavement’ – a continuous cement topping in camel colour matches the varnished MDF sheeting used for the studio and living room joinery.

Small accents of colour can be found on the green-topped dining room table, and within the wall niche displaying the statue of Virgin Mary lined in bright red, creating an element of unexpected kitsch within the interior. The entrance-hall is panelled in perforated MDF which integrates the front door, also providing a surface for the display of the owner’s treasures and personal memories.

Mariona Espinet and Cristina Cirera found their interior design studio in 2013, after many years of study and practice, including their time in Havana, Cuba and Sydney, Australia. Stay tuned for more work by these clever ladies in the coming weeks on Yellowtrace.