M22 - Penthouse in Montjuic

On the 9th and last floor of a conventional 70s housing building, a unique apartment has its 2 opposite facades setback and therefore 2 parallel terrasses: a main terrasse facing South and a secondary terrasse facing North.

To the South, a panoramic view towards the sea, the industrial harbour, Montjuic and the neighborhood of Poble Sec.

To the North, the Collserola mountains, the Barcelona skyline, its cathedral, the Sagrada Familia, the Agbar Tower, the Colon Tower and the sea once again.

In the existing apartment, the circulation goes around the vertical core of the building, through a space that expands and contracts according to the exterior boundaries of the isolated rooms. A series of doors reinforce the zoning of the different areas of the apartment according to its usage. The relationship with the exterior materializes in small windows or narrow doors elevated from the ground to reach the higher level of the terrasses.

The project consists in strengthening the relationship between Monjuic, the sea and the city and bringing it inside the apartment by creating a strip connecting both terrasses. The rest of the house ramifies from this new central space.

The spaces with a dominant daytime usage stay facing South and the spaces with a dominant nighttime usage stay facing North, with a series of new openings on the facades to amplify the relations between the inside and its surroundings.

The new height of the apartment is achieved by the rehabilitation of the existing pitched roof and is regulated by different platforms according to the usage of each area.

3 storage spaces cover the entrance, pantry and fireplace. The kitchen (except for the worktop and bar strips) as well as the dining room are kept full height.

The office hangs in the center of the main central space. Its structure and visual filter of wooden slats offer a roof for the living room.

On top of the master bedroom a new slab offers the possibility to host guests in the attic.

Outside, the new pergolas protect each of the new windows facing South during the summer and let the sun pass through during the winter. They suggest different ways of enjoying the terrasse.

The dining room and fireplace, on top of a concrete platform, are now on the same level as the new outside wooden deck and the sliding pocket window allows the possibility of a unique interior-exterior space during the summer days.