House AB in Barcelona by built architecture

Architect: built architecture
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Area: 153.0 sqm
Project Completed: 2015
Photography: Eugeni Pons

When commissioned to renovate the AB house in Barcelona, built architecture were challenged to find a balance between the existing location and new ideas. The balance between recovering and re-evaluating the original features of the site while getting rid of any element that interfered with their vision and the perception of the space. The final result, in their opinion, needed to be wide and clear. To accomplish this, the first step was to diffuse the central corridor in order to merge the rooms surrounding it. A new piece of joinery was created allowing it to flow along the length of the apartment, also serving as a divider between the social and private zones by creating three different while providing ample space for storage and organisation.

The public area is located on one of the sides and consists of a sitting room, dining room and library, all of which are connected to the main facade of the building, enjoying the best views and orientation. Service spaces cleverly located in the apartment include a kitchen, dining bar, guest room and bathroom equipped with a convenient double access.

The design recovers and uplifts both the original modernist mosaics and the high ceilings with gypsum mouldings. The project frames all recovered mosaic with a natural oak parquetry floor which resemble colourful carpet borders mounted on the pavement. The central furniture element, built in the same oak finish, rises from those frames as a great sculpture that contracts and fractures itself in order to fly over the mosaic and to achieve precise alignments with the flooring.