A modernist renovation in the Eixample / Barcelona
Recovering the essence of an art nouveau apartment
The clients, an American couple with a son in college, had a clear idea of what they wanted for their second home in Barcelona. An airy, light-filled, inviting apartment with the unique charm of a home that brings back the essence of the past.
The commission entrusted to Estudio vilablanch was very specific: the full renovation of a 140 m2 art nouveau apartment in the Eixample district in Barcelona that would restore the property's original elegance while also conveying a sense of spaciousness.
To meet the challenge, Estudio vilablanch carried out a complete renovation and interior decorating project that focused on exploring the fullest potential of each space and preserving all the original elements that had particular historical or contextual value.
These are some of the efforts that were pursued:
- Recovering the original floors. This involved a detailed, time-consuming effort, given that beautiful Nolla and encaustic tile floors appeared when the existing wood floor was removed.
- Restoring ceilings, doors, and windows.
- Replacing the existing aluminum frames with wood frames for doors and windows.
- Opening up spaces to connect different rooms. Specifically, we opened up the kitchen/dining area, as well as the living room and the master bedroom. This allowed us to shorten the hallway, give the entire home more breathing space, and create large, well-connected spaces.
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For the furniture, the choices were made among leading contemporary design brands such as the following: a leather Maralunga couch by Cassina; a LC4 Louis Vuitton chaise longue, also by Cassina; a Projecteur 365 lamp designed by Le Corbusier and produced by Nemo; Vanity Fair armchairs by Poltrona Frau; and a Nuage 526 piece designed by Charlotte Perriand for Cassina. All the furniture was purchased at MINIM and Cassina Barcelona.
The choice for the kitchen was bulthaup, the German brand currently considered one of the world leaders in the premium kitchen segment. The bulthaup b3 kitchen for the home was planned by bulthaup bach 7.