3.1 apartment | Archithoughts

Alella is a small town 15 km. away from Barcelona. This now renovated apartment is located within the Eixample neighbourhood of Alella, a tranquil area near the town centre, mostly with detached houses and welcoming streets. 

The first time we visited this apartment, we were impressed by the views this flat had; a fantastic panoramic and uninterrupted views facing the sea and surrounding landscape and on the top of that, it had 3 façades, which means 18 hours of light and air circulation.

The clients contacted Archithoughts because they wanted us to rearrange urgently the bathroom and the kitchen to have more light coming into the space. We opted for designing an open plan kitchen as a solution, giving a twist of creativity converting the old-fashion flat into a modern and sweet space to live in.

The flat was untouched for 30 years, reason why we had to re-do the electrics, water- heating installations, pavements, furniture, bathroom, kitchen, 2 windows and isolating all façades using organic cellulose to prevent energy waste.
We preserved the previous distribution of the dwelling being the wider space the Kitchen, dinning room and living room and the narrower the bathroom and other 3 rooms.

The clients wanted a minimalistic but modern flat. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to keep the geometric pattern floor of the living-dinning room, very common in Spain, so we polished it and placed new floors in the kitchen and rooms to create continuity. In the bathroom, we opted for placing a porcelain tile creating a colourful and geometric pattern.

As the clients are usual travellers, they wanted a peaceful but cosmopolitan apartment, this is why we used the combination of oak (inspiring of nature), metal (for the beams and furniture inspiring city) and white (inspiring calm and peace). We also opted for hiding all kitchen appliances, lighting and electric and water-heating installations (underneath pavement).

To make both areas appear higher and bigger than before, skirting boards and door frames had exactly the same dimensions (high and wide) becoming a continuous and subtle element.

As a result, we delivered a clean, bright, simple and beautiful apartment, a combination of what the clients were looking for.