CASTILLEJOS II | LAMA studio

The goal of this project was to convert an old commercial property of just over 50m2 for residential use. The premises is located in a beautiful, traditionally styled building in Barcelona’s Eixample district. It has a large opening toward the street façade flanked by a smaller one on the same side, ensuring abundant natural light. The property also has a rear interior courtyard, and a free interior height of over 3 metres, which presented an opportunity for new uses of the space.

In order to take advantage of this interior height and to expand the surface area of the premises, it was decided that a mezzanine floor nucleus would be created in the central area of the project, dividing the space into two floors. The service areas are concentrated on the ground floor of the central core: a complete bathroom, a built-in wardrobe and a utility room that can also function as a laundry and storage room or as a dressing room. On the upper floor there is a charming and cosy loft-style bedroom.

This distribution creates two large open-plan spaces at double height, one on each side of the core. On one side, we have the space that opens toward the street façade, where the kitchen and dining room are located, from which the dwelling is accessed. And on the other side, we have a more secluded, private space, which opens onto the inner courtyard, acting as the living room.

The raised area is sectionally configured in a unique manner, as the total height of the property does not allow for the creation of two floors at full height. This configuration generates a small corridor of reduced vertical extension that allows walk-in access to the sleeping area, where one can then lay on the bed without having to bend down.

The metallic structure that supports the mezzanine has been left exposed and is further highlighted by its being painted in a maroon colour, thus transforming it into the project’s starring element on a formal level as well. Bare varnished MDF boards screwed to the structure form the finished floor of this raised space.

In order to provide greater light and give the loft a feeling of additional spaciousness, but, at the same time, to offer some privacy, ribbed glass windows were added which connect the bedroom with the dining room on one side and with the living room on the other.

A staircase made of a thin, delicately folded piece of sheet metal provides access to the mezzanine. Its geometry and structure create a dialogue withn the maroon-coloured core structure, giving a special personality to its frontal perspective.

In the entrance area, the fully open-plan kitchen is arranged in a single line in order to accommodate an open-plan dining area. With its white furniture and white marble worktop and front, the kitchen integrates discreetly within the project.

The micro-cement flooring in a warm grey tone and the maroon colour of the structure are combined with a stone beige colour that is used for several of the made-to-measure elements and to also frame some of the wall planes, providing a horizontality that contrasts with the extended height of these spaces.

The original wooden beam and tiled vault ceilings have been left exposed and painted white to enhance the luminosity of the project without surrendering the texture and personality they provide.

Finally, to give warmth to the project, the two main exterior-facing windows are covered with tall white linen curtains which also serve to filter the light entering the spaces.

Photography: Marek Jarosz

IG:https: //www.instagram.com/marekjarosz/